The year was 1979. The WHA agreed to fold as a league and was bought out by the NHL. Four expansion teams were allowed to hold onto their franchise and join the NHL: Edmonton Oilers, New England/Hartford Whalers, Winnipeg Jets, and Quebec Nordiques. Of course, the Oilers had the most exciting player in the WHA, Wayne Gretzky.
Gretzky was coming off an amazing rookie season. He started in Indianapolis, but he was sold to Edmonton for what amounted to $700,000. He turned 18 during that season, which would have made him too young to play in the NHL, but the WHA changed its rules to compete with the big league.
When the WHA merged its franchises with the NHL, the league allowed them to hold onto four players for each expanding franchise, two forwards and two goalies. However, underage players were meant to go in the NHL Draft. That included players like Mark Messier, who went in the third round to the Edmonton Oilers.
The team with the first-overall pick that season was the Colorado Rockies. They were just three years away from moving their operation to the Garden State and becoming the Devils, but at the time, the Rockies were looking to make a move in Denver. That first-overall pick would have been a slam dunk and been Wayne Gretzky. There was no other pick that made sense. He was the best player in the draft and was expected to be an instant star.
What if the New Jersey Devils franchise had ownership of Wayne Gretzky?
Well, the owner of the Edmonton Oilers got an idea from the former owner of the Indianapolis franchise. They signed Gretzky to a personal services contract instead of a hockey contract. Since the Oilers would still own those rights, the NHL would likely have a court battle on their hands if they tried to pry him away and put him in the NHL Draft.
The NHL didn’t want litigation beyond what was necessary with the expansion, so they allowed the Oilers to ignore the rules and allow Gretzky to become one of the Oilers’ protected players, despite him being just 18 years old.
Instead of Gretzky, the Rockies ended up with Rob Ramage, who was then a defenseman for the Birmingham franchise in the WHA. He ended up playing more than 1,000 games in the league and played until the 1993-94 season, but he wasn’t exactly a superstar. And he would ironically never play for the Devils. He was traded to the St. Louis Blues after the 1981-82 season, just three seasons into his career as a number-one overall pick.
If the Rockies drafted Gretzky, so much likely changes. Do they hire Don Cherry in 1979 to bring more toughness to the team? This is a team that put billboards across Denver that said “Come to the fights and watch a Rockies game break out!" That doesn’t exactly scream “Wayne Gretzky hockey.”
One thing seems certain: the Rockies weren’t selling their franchise if they had Gretzky. He puts butts in seats. The Devils might still have a franchise, as Dr. John McMullen seemed pretty dedicated to bringing a team to New Jersey, but nothing is certain at that time.
One thing is for sure: if the Rockies did come with Gretzky, it would make the move a lot more expensive. We also would have never heard those words “Mickey Mouse franchise,” because Gretzky would be playing for said franchise.
Or maybe Gretzky, like Ramage, wouldn’t have played a game in New Jersey. Maybe he deals with three years of losing and gets traded like Ramage.
It would have been nice if the Devils had a chance to convince Gretzky to come to the Garden State. Even if they didn’t, they’d get a franchise-changing price to trade Gretzky before coming to Jersey. It’s one of the “what ifs” that aren’t talked about much, but it should be discussed as much as “what if the Devils drafted Mario Lemieux in 1984?”.