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1978 NHL Draft

Bengt-Åke Gustafsson in the 1978 NHL Draft

Washington Capitals selected Bengt-Åke Gustafsson 55th overall in the 1978 NHL Draft, with the 2nd pick of round 4.

He was the first of the 8 Swedes selected that year. It was the seventh of the 19 picks Washington Capitals made in the draft. Of the 234 players selected in 1978, 95 have played in the NHL regular season. His 629 games put him 22nd in the class, but only 9 have scored more points than his 554.

Overall pick
55
Round and pick
Round 4, pick 2
Drafting team
WSHWashington Capitals
Date
Age at the draft
20 years

The picks around it

Picks 52–58 in the 1978 draft

  1. 52Brad KnelsonDBOS
  2. 53Douglas DerksonCDET
  3. 54Curt GilesD895 GP · 242 PMNS
  4. 55Bengt-Åke GustafssonL629 GP · 554 PWSH
  5. 56Harald LücknerLVAN
  6. 57Brad SmithR222 GP · 62 PVAN
  7. 58David WatsonL18 GP · 1 PCLR

Games and points are NHL regular season to date.

The 1978 NHL Draft

Place in the draft class

Where he came in the 1978 class

1st
of 8 Swedes selected
38th
of 146 forwards selected

Counted in draft order across the whole draft. The position is the one listed at the draft.

First Swedes selected

  1. 55Bengt-Åke GustafssonL629 GP · 554 PWSH
  2. 56Harald LücknerLVAN
  3. 105Mats HallinC152 GP · 31 PWSH
  4. 174Bo EricssonDCLR
  5. 175Dan HermanssonFSTL
  6. 184Christer LowdahlCNYI
  7. 199Gunnar PerssonDNYI
  8. 204Ulf ZetterstromCCLR
Every Swede in the 1978 draft

After the draft

The road to the NHL

Bengt-Åke Gustafsson made his NHL debut on October 11, 1979, 1 year and 118 days after the draft.

629
Games
195
Goals
359
Assists
554
Points

NHL regular season to date.

The team's draft

Washington Capitals picks in the 1978 draft

  1. 2Ryan WalterC1003 GP · 646 PWSH
  2. 18Tim CoulisL47 GP · 9 PWSH
  3. 20Paul MulveyL225 GP · 81 PWSH
  4. 23Paul MacKinnonD147 GP · 28 PWSH
  5. 38Glen CurrieC326 GP · 118 PWSH
  6. 45Jay JohnstonD8 GP · 0 PWSH
  7. 55Bengt-Åke GustafssonL629 GP · 554 PWSH
  8. 71Lou FranceschettiL459 GP · 140 PWSH
  9. 88Vincent MagnanLWSH
  10. 105Mats HallinC152 GP · 31 PWSH
  11. 122Richard SiroisGWSH
  12. 139Denis PomerleauRWSH
  13. 156Barry HeardGWSH
  14. 172Mark ToffoloDWSH
  15. 187Paul HoganLWSH
  16. 189Steve BargerRWSH
  17. 202Rod PacholzukDWSH
  18. 213Wes JarvisC237 GP · 86 PWSH
  19. 215Ray IrwinDWSH