Rising Sons: Family Relations at 2017 NHL Entry Draft

Nolan Patrick is one of the prized jewels of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

But as the captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings is welcomed into the National Hockey League family, he is already quite familiar with it.

His dad Steve played 250 NHL games with Buffalo, Quebec and the New York Rangers. And his uncle James was a standout defenseman who played 1280 NHL games with four teams.

Nolan was very close to his grandfather, Stephen, who was a 13 year veteran with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.

"We were pretty close," said Patrick. "He was big for me. He was always on the educational side of things; pushing me to stay with my schoolwork. He took me to the driving range a lot when I was younger. That's kinda when I fell in love with golf.

"He was a lot different guy from my dad. My dad's a real upbeat non-stop talking guy. He was more laid-back, a lot of wisdom. Just hilarious. Always telling my dad to shut up."

Patrick isn't the only player in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft who is about to become a second-generation NHLer.

Callan Foote is following in the footsteps (pun intended) of former Colorado Avalanche stud defenseman Adam Foote. Callan is an offensive defender with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets who plays a similar style to his dad.

Adam Foote's Avalanche teammate Curtis Leschyshyn will also be watching for his son to being his NHL journey. Jake Leschyshyn is a center with the WHL's Regina Pats.

Cayden Primeau is a goalie prospect in this year's draft. He had the added benefit of having his  NHL father and uncle shooting on him since childhood. His father was Keith Primeau and his uncle was Wayne Primeau.

Swedish star Lias Andersson is the son of former NHLer Mikael Andersson. Niklas Andersson was his uncle.

The Strome family are back again, as they seem to be making the NHL Draft a recurring family event. Matthew Strome hopes to join brothers Ryan and Dylan in the NHL.

NHL Entry Draft History

My fascination with the National Hockey League Entry Draft more or less began in 1990 with Petr Nedved.

As a young fan of the lowly Vancouver Canucks, the draft represented hope. With Trevor Linden in place as the heart and soul, the team desperately needed a scoring superstar. With the draft in Vancouver and with the Canucks holding three of the first twenty-three picks, including #2 overall pick, these were exciting times.

The draft was said to be, and would prove to be, one of the deepest in history. Mike Ricci entered the previous season as the consensus top pick, but Owen Nolan and Keith Primeau caught up quickly. Jaromir Jagr would have undoubtedly been the top choice but there was still risk because his availability was still in doubt as political reform was still in progress.

But the man I wanted was another Czech player - Petr Nedved.

All eyes were on the spindly Czech kid who did nothing to hide his fascination with Wayne Gretzky. He emulated him in every way. He tucked in his shirt the same, wore the same Jofa helmet, and copied his hunched over skating style. He'd fly down the win, curl at the blue line looking for an amazing pass, although he really should have been more greedy and use his laser of a shot more often.

Nedved tore up the Western Hockey League with 65 goals and 145 points in 71 games. His offense was undeniable. He had the creativity and vision of #99. He was a game breaker through and through. He had already showed more courage than any other player possibly could.

I, like a lot of west coast fans, desperately wanted Vancouver to take Nedved. Keith Primeau, with his hulking size, was my other choice, although Philadelphia was supposedly offering Ron Sutter and Scott Mellanby if Vancouver flipped picks and slipped down to #4. They wanted Nedved too.

The Canucks did take Nedved, but did not really not what to do with him. He made the NHL team immediately, but he was too slight to make an impact. But sending him back to junior was not an option either, as he was too good for that league, and he had no other place to play. So the Canucks coddled him on the 4th line. To this day I believe Nedved's development was stagnated by this decision. He probably should have been returned to junior, even if the WHL offered no competition.

Nedved, despite glimpses of brilliance, never really found his way in the NHL until his third season. I don't think he ever came close to matching my expectations as a NHL player, no matter how much I wanted him too.

You can read more about Petr Nedved here. But Nedved is not the point of this long post. The point is the NHL Entry Draft is one of the fan's most favorite days of the year. It is a day full of hope and promise.

It is also a fun day to look back on drafts of the past. Last year I began year-by-year NHL Draft capsules, looking back at the best of the best. I never did get around to expanding upon my work. Maybe this year I will, but until this time next year you can review draft history here:

1963 - 1964 - 1965 - 1966 - 1967 - 1968 - 1969 - 1970 - 1971 - 1972 - 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - 1976 - 1977 - 1978 - 1979 - 1980 - 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984

Also, take a look at these pieces:

All Time 1st Overall Draft Selections
Best Players Never Drafted
Infamous Draft Trades

2009 NHL Draft Family Relations

Hockey is a family game. Every draft features a number of sons, nephews, brothers and occassionally even a grandson or two. Here's a look at the family relations of draft eligible players at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft:

Landon Ferraro, son of Ray Ferraro

Carter Ashton, son of Brent Ashton

Marcus Foligno, son of Mike Foligno, brother of Nick Foligno

Tim Erixon, son of Jan Erixon

Ryan Bourque, son of Ray Bourque

Brayden Schenn, brother of Luke Schenn

Tyson Barrie, son of Len Barrie

Phil Sameulsson, son of Ulf Sameulsson

Alex Velischek, son of Randy Velischek

Bjorn Krupp, son of Uwe Krupp

Matt Hackett, nephew of Jeff Hackett

Matthew Clark, nephew of Ab Demarco

Joonas Rask, brother of Tuukka Rask

Let me know if you know any more.

Relatives Drafted By NHL

Yesterday I reported that Anton Gustafsson, son of Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, and Viktor Tikhonov, grandson of the Russian coaching legend of the same name, were drafted in the first round by Washington (24th) and Phoenix (28th), respectively.

Earlier in the draft Alex Pietrangelo, nephew of former Pittsburgh goalie Frank Pietrangelo, went 4th to St. Louis. Also, Colin Wilson, the American born son of Canadian Olympian Carey Wilson, went 7th to Nashville.

Day two of the draft saw some more relatives of legends drafted:

#33 - Phil McRae, St. Louis - son of former tough guy Basil McRae
#47 - Maxime Sauve, Boston - Son of JF Sauve, Nephew of Bob Sauve
#49 - Jared Staal, Phoenix - brother of Eric, Marc and Jordan Staal.
#66 - David Toews, NY Islanders - brother of Jonathan Toews
#97 - Jamie Arniel, Boston - nephew of Scott Arniel
#159 - Brett Hextall, Phoenix - son of Ron Hextall

Brett Theberge, great grandson of Hall of Famer Dit Clapper was not drafted.

By picking Tikhonov, Staal and Hextall, does Phoenix believe in the great pedigree theory? I think it is probably more coincidence. Tikhonov and Hextall are both older players, having been passed over in the previous two drafts. I think the Coyotes may have been looking to restock their farm system sooner rather than later.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1984

The 1985 NHL Entry Draft was all about Mario Lemieux.

Mario was the best player available bar none, despite some lingering skepticism over his attitude. He was also making headlines prior to draft day, going on record as to state that he did not want to play for his hometown Montreal Canadiens because he felt there would be too much pressure. And he was already in contract negotiations with Pittsburgh, owners of the 1st pick. The contract negotiations were definitely not progressive.

It all came to a head on draft day, when Lemieux's name was called by Penguins general manager Eddie Johnston. Upset over the contract talks, Lemieux refused to put on a Penguins sweater, although he said he'd be happy to play for the team once he could sign an acceptable contract -- which finally happened 10 days after the actual draft. The whole sweater debacle happened on national television, as this was the first draft to be televised.

To make the draft more dramatic, the host Montreal Canadiens shocked the hockey world and the political world when they not only selected Czech defenseman Petr Svoboda with the 5th overall pick, but then unveiled him to the audience. Official defection paperwork would begin soon after.

Other long time NHLers drafted in the 1st round include Kirk Muller, Ed Olczyk, Al Iafrate, Shawn Burr, Shayne Corson, Doug Bodger, JJ Daigneault, Sylvain Cote, Gary Roberts, Terry Carkner, Kevin Hatcher and Mikael Andersson.

There were some first rounds busts, such as Craig Redmond, Trevor Stienburg, Roger Belanger, Dave Pasin, and Selmar Odelein. Two players never really had a chance to make the NHL. Minnesota's 13th overall pick David Quinn had a blood disorder which ended his career. And the New York Islanders 20th overall pick Duncan MacPherson apprenticed for three years in the minor leagues before dying in an avalanche while on a ski vacation in the Austrian Alps in 1989. Much mystery surrounded his disappearance until is body was not found until 2003.

The second round produced Craig Billington, Todd Gill, Scott Mellanby, Stephane Richer, Stephen Leach, Jeff Brown and Paul Ranheim. The Islanders bad luck continued, as their second round pick, right winger Bruce Melanson of Oshawa, died of heart failure the following year.

While Lemieux was the class of the draft, Patrick Roy was not far behind. The Montreal Canadiens found their future superstar still available at 51, and snatched him up. Brett Hull would come in a close 3rd. He wasn't drafted until the 117th selection, by Calgary. Luc Robitaille was drafted even lower, at 171 by Los Angeles!

Some other late round finds included Trent Yawney, Steven Finn, Michal Pivonka, Ray Sheppard, Kris King, Paul Ysebaert, Kirk McLean, Kjell Sameulsson, Cliff Ronning, Jiri Hrdina, Don Sweeney, and David Volek.

Perhaps the best late round fine though was Los Angeles' 69th selection - Tom Glavine. Unfortunately for the Kings, the Atlanta Braves also drafted Glavine in the second round of the 1984 Major League Baseball draft. Needless to say, Glavine chose to stick to the pitching mound.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1983

For the first and only time in NHL history, an NHL franchise chose not to participate in the draft. The St. Louis Blues, who were in the middle of a dispute with the NHL over the pending sale of the team and the possible move of the franchise to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, chose not to send any representatives to Montreal.

It was a good time for St. Louis to stage such a bizarre protest. The 1983 draft was supposed to be a weak draft, and St. Louis had already traded away their first and second round picks. The team would have had to have hoped for some late round diamonds in the rough. This draft did provide some of that.

The opening round was littered with undersized forwards, many of which left scouts skeptical as per their chances of success in the NHL. Believing exactly this, the Minnesota North Stars went slightly off the board with the 1st overall pick, and took the first and only U.S. high school player first overall, Brian Lawton.

Lawton was rated #1 by Central Scouting, though The Hockey News rated him #5 by their projections. Regardless, Lawton would be a remembered as a 1st overall draft bust, despite playing in 483 career games and scoring 266 points.

A major reason why Lawton would be considered a bust is because of who followed him in the draft. Sylvain Turgeon went 2nd to Hartford, another off the board pick as Central Scouting him #4 and THN had him #6. With some weak teams he quietly scored 269 goals and 495 points in 669 games.

The New York Islanders traded up to get the 3rd overall selection, and took future Hall of Famer Pat Lafontaine. The moved infuriated Detroit, owners of the 4th pick, as they wanted the hometown Lafontaine. Detroit had to settle on another Hall of Famer - Steve Yzerman.

A second high school student went in the top 5. Buffalo grabbed goalie Tom Barrasso. It may have seemed risky, but even riskier was turning him pro a couple of months later. Barrasso exceeded all expectations, turning in one of the most amazing rookie campaigns ever to start of a truly spectacular although at times volatile career.

John MacLean and Russ Courtnall, two 1000+ games NHL veterans, went 6 and 7 to New Jersey and Toronto respectively. Looking for a forward with more size, Winnipeg grabbed Andrew MacBain, a slow forward who lasted in the NHL but never really thrived. Winnipeg would have been better off taking Hall of Famer Cam Neely, who went 9th overall to Vancouver. Vancouver would have been better off if they hadn't traded him 3 years later.

Other notable first round selections included Adam Creighton, Dave Gagner, Dan Quinn, Bob Errey and Jeff Beukeboom.

The second round produced only 5 NHLers of note. Claude Lemieux and Sergio Momesso went 26 and 27, both to Montreal. Buffalo landed John Tucker, Chicago landed Wayne Presley and Philadelphia nabbed Peter Zezel.

The fifth 2nd rounder of note was Frantisek Musil, the highest drafted Eastern European pick. There was several late round picks used on Euro stars and eventually some of these panned out. Detroit took Petr Klima 88th overall, Calgary took Igor Liba 94th overall, Montreal took Vladislav Tretiak 143rd overall New Jersey took Slava Fetisov 150th overall, Chicago took Dominik Hasek 207th overall, New Jersey took Alexei Kasatonov 234th overall and Calgary took Sergei Makarov 241st overall.

Western Europeans of note included Mikko Makela, Esa Tikkanen, Pelle Eklund, Christian Ruuttu, Tommy Albelin and Uwe Krupp.

North America provided some belligerent muscle in the later rounds, notably Peter Taglianetti, Derrick Smith, Bob Probert, Marc Bergevin, John Kordic, Joe Kocur, Kevin Stevens, Dave Lowry, Rick Tocchet, and Brian Noonan. Some of the more skilled North American players found in late rounds include Brian Bradley and Garry Galley.

Goaltenders of note include Allan Bester, Frank Pietrangelo, Darren Puppa, and Chris Terreri.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1982

The 1982 NHL Entry Draft was known as "Brian Bellows Sweepstakes" for most of the year. The talented Kitchener right winger was the clear favorite to be the 1st overall pick but ironically he ended up as 2nd pick, behind hulking defenseman Gord Kluzak.

The Boston Bruins owned the 1st overall choice, but Minnesota wanted Bellows desperately. The North Stars traded Brad Palmer and Dave Donnelly to Boston in exchange for a promise that the Bruins would not take Bellows with the pick, thereby letting Minnesota select him with its No. 2 overall pick.

History suggests the North Stars made a wise move. Palmer and Donnelly never amounted to much in the NHL, and Kluzak's serious knee injuries derailed him. Bellows went on to a very solid career, scoring 485 goals in nearly 1200 career games, but somehow the superstar label slipped him by.

Kluzak was the first of many very solid and very physical defensemen to come out of this draft. The best of which was Scott Stevens grabbed by Washington at the 5 spot. Others included Gary Nylund, Michel Petit, Jim Kyte, David Shaw and Ken Daneyko. Super-skilled defender Phil Housley may not have been notably physical, after Stevens ranks as the best defense graduate. Later rounds also produced blue line talent such as Ulf Samuelsson, Dave Ellett, Bob Rouse, and Brad Shaw.

The draft did not produce a lot of high end talent, but some solid two way players were in abundance. The best forwards of the first round were probably Ron Sutter, Dave Andreychuk, Murray Craven and Pat Flatley. 2nd round pick Gary Leeman was converted to forward from defense in the NHL, and would once score 50 goals. Tomas Sandstrom and Pat Verbeek were offensive threats drafted 36th and 43rd, respectively.

The draft's best offensive player was an undersized pivot who was overlooked until the 134th selection. The St. Louis Blues took a chance on Doug Gilmour. It paid off handsomely, as Gilmour embarked on 1474 game career that included 450 goals, 964 assists and 1414 points. Other late round finds include Kevin Dineen, Dave Reid, Ray Ferraro, Tony Granato, Bob Sweeney, Dave Brown, Mike Hough, and Kelly Miller.

It was a very weak class for goaltenders. There was a couple of goalies who would go onto star in the NHL. Ken Wregget was the highest drafted goalie at 45. Mario Gosselin came in at 55, but by far the best graduate was Philadelphia's 119th overall pick, Ron Hextall.

An interesting rule change created a run on older players from Eastern Europe. From this point on all Europeans entering the league are required to do so via the draft, rather than as free agents. As a result of this rule, NHL teams began drafting Czechs and Soviets in the hope that they would own their rights if they either defected or were released to other leagues by their national federations. Notable European stars drafted included Czechs Milan Novy, Jaroslav Pouzar and Miroslav Dvorak, all of whom had already been given permission to join the NHL in 1981-82, and Soviets Sergei Kapustin and Viktor Zhluktov, neither of whom were ever released to play in North America.

A third drafted Soviet, Viktor Nechaev, did reach the NHL, but his arrival was certain since he had already left his native Russia to join his American wife in Boston.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1981

The 1981 NHL Entry Draft featured a clear cut #1 draft pick. With two Memorial Cups, a Memorial Cup MVP, a scoring championship and a Canadian Junior Player of the Year Award, Dale Hawerchuk was such a decorated junior player that he was the obvious superstar to build a franchise around. That's exactly what the Winnipeg Jets did with the first pick.

Though The Hockey News draft preview rated him #7, the Los Angeles Kings went slightly off the board and made Doug Smith the 2nd overall pick. The Ottawa 67's speedster had practically no silverware in comparison to Hawerchuk or several other first rounders, which should have been an omen. Smith played 535 NHL games, but was mostly a utility forward.

The Washington Capitals traded up in the draft to land the much talked about Bobby Carpenter. Carpenter was the highest rated US hockey player to that point in history. Sports Illustrated was so high on the St. John's Prep high school student that they did a cover story on "The Can't Miss Kid." Carpenter would once score over 50 goals in Washington, but offensively he never really became the first American superstar. He reinvented himself into a terrific defensive player, and lasted in the league almost 1200 games.

One man who was terribly upset about Washington trading up to get Carpenter was Carpenter's father, Bob Sr. The policeman stormed out of the Montreal Forum visibly upset, for everyone expected Carpenter to end up with the hometown Hartford Whalers, who owned the 4th pick. History would smile on the Whalers ultimately, as they landed the face of the franchise in Ron Francis.

The Edmonton Oilers continued their masterful drafting. They landed Kevin Lowe, Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson in 1979, and added Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri and Andy Moog in 1980. In 1981 they used their 8th overall selection to land none other than Grant Fuhr. In the sixth round they would add Steve Smith. He was actually the second Steve Smith to be drafted that day. Philadelphia took the other Steve Smith with the 16th overall pick in round one, but with only 18 games and just 1 assist, he proved to a draft dud.

Other notable 1st rounders included James Patrick, Garth Butcher, Mark Hunter, Tony Tanti, and Al MacInnis. A noteworthy European pick was Buffalo's decision to gamble at No. 17 and take Czechoslovakia's Jiri Dudacek. Unfortunately for Scotty Bowman and the Sabres, the formerly Communist Czech hockey federation never released Dudacek to play in North America. Still, Dudacek made history as the first Czech player picked in a first round.

This draft also produced Chris Chelios, the only active player from this draft. He was taken 40th by Montreal, after Montreal ultimately wasted higher picks on Jan Ingman and Lars Eriksson, both of whom never played in the NHL.

The European trend definitely continued in this draft, though not all would cross the Atlantic. Some notables who did include Jan Erixon, Hannu Virta, Peter Sundstrom, Kjell Dahlin, Petri Skriko, and Miloslav Horava.

It was a good draft for goalies. After Fuhr the likes of Mike Vernon, John Vanbiesbrouck, Peter Sidorkiewicz, Wendell Young, Clint Malarchuk, and Greg Stefan

Some bigger names found in later rounds include Dean Kennedy, Paul MacDermid, Gerard Gallant, Bruce Driver, Marc Habscheid, Mike Eagles, Tom Kurvers, Rick Zombo, Gaetan Duchesne, and Dave Hannan.

A very embarrassing moment came in the 3rd round when Philadelphia selected Barry Tabodondung, a winger from Oshawa who never made it to the NHL. Tabobondung was so excited to hear his name called that he tried to hurdle a Montreal Forum chair in order to get out onto the draft floor. Unfortunately, his foot slipped through the chair and got caught. Arena workers had to take the chair apart to free.

One other notable player was drafted in 1981. With the 64th pick, the Winnipeg Jets selected a center from the University of Vermont. The center was born in Kapuskasking, Ontario, but was unique in that he grew up in Nashville, Memphis, Vancouver, Phoenix and Los Angeles before settling in Phoenix, Arizona. The following season, 1981-82, he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker award as the best player in US College hockey, and would even play one season of professional hockey in the minor leagues. But he was a multi sport star, notably good at soccer and baseball. He was so good at baseball that he would ultimately walk away from the ice and pitch in the major leagues. His name: Kirk McCaskill

NHL Entry Draft History: 1980

The 1980 Entry Draft may always be remembered for the controversy over the top selection, but its great legacy will its depth and diversity.

Because the 1980 draft was part of a transitional period from 20-year-old drafts in the 1970s to the underage-draft years of the 1980s, it included a wide range of players born from 1960 to 1962. As a result, several talented players were available in late rounds, particularly older players who had been ignored in 1979.

The lower age minimum placed high school players in both the U.S. and Canada and Canadian Tier II junior players in attractive positions. And with the draft expanded to 210 total selections, more Europeans were selected than ever before. Late round finds included many great Europeans.

Making this draft unique was it was the first draft that was open for public viewing. 2500 fans attended the proceedings at the Montreal Forum, eager to witness the hometown Canadiens make the 1st overall pick.

The battle for top billing was between the universally agreed upon top player, Doug Wickenheiser of the Regina Pats, vs. the hometown favorite, Denis Savard from Pointe Gatineau.

Wickenheiser was the Canadian Junior Player of the Year, scoring 89 goals and 170 points. He was the WHL MVP and led the Pats to a Memorial Cup appearance. Savard was no slouch either, obviously. The QMJHL MVP scored 63 goals and 181 points while playing with "Trois Denis Line" with the Montreal Jr. Canadiens. (Savard's linemates, Denis Cyr and Denis Tremblay, not only shared the same first name but also the exact same birth date.

Montreal opted for the bigger and two-way Wickenheiser, a move that would not pan out. Savard, who was drafted 3rd overall by the Blackhawks, would quickly become an electrifying NHL superstar in Chicago. Under the immense pressure from the already unhappy Montreal fans and media, Wickenheiser was doomed to fail, although he did play over 500 games and transformed himself into a very good checking center.

Savard fell to #3 because Winnipeg took the #2 rate player, and top rated defenseman, Dave Babych. Babych enjoyed a fine career, but his legacy is somewhat overshadowed by some of the other members of a strong blue line draft class of 1980, namely Hall of Famers Larry Murphy and Paul Coffey.

Other notable 1st rounders included Rick Lanz, Jim Fox, Mike Bullard, Brent Sutter and Barry Pederson. Otherwise there was a lot of misses or fringe players, such as Darren Veitch, Fred Arthur (who quit hockey a year later and became a doctor), Denis Cyr, Jim Malone, Jerome Dupont, Brad Palmer, Steve Patrick and Mike Stothers.

Other notables to come out of this draft: Moe Mantha, Normand Rochefort, Craig Muni, Don Beaupre, Kelly Hrudey, Troy Murray, Craig Ludwig, Tom Fergus, Carey Wilson, Jari Kurri, Kevin McClelland, Bernie Nicholls, Greg Gilbert, Steve Kasper, Aaron Broten, Reijo Ruotslainen, Steve Larmer, Mike McPhee, Brian Mullen, Andy Moog, Doug Lidster, Randy Cunneyworth, Patrik Sundstrom, and Hakan Loob.

Of interest, Andy Brickley was chosen last overall, #210. He did appear in 385 NHL games, scoring 82 goals and 222 points, the best of any last overall pick in NHL draft history.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1979

The 1979 NHL Entry Draft is widely considered to be the best and deepest draft in NHL history. It's no wonder why. Take a look at these first rounders:

1. Rob Ramage - 1044 games played, 2 Stanley Cups
3. Mike Foligno - 1018 games played, 355 career goals
4. Mike Gartner - 1432 games played, 708 career goals
5. Rick Vaive - 876 games played, 441 career goals
6. Craig Hartsburg - 570 careers games in injury shortened tenure
7. Keith Brown - 876 career games
8. Ray Bourque - 1532 career games, 1 Stanley Cup, 5 Norris trophies, 19 All Star teams, Hockey Hall of Fame
9. Laurie Boschman - 1009 games played
10. Tom McCarthy - 460 games played in injury shortened tenure
11. Mike Ramsey - 1070 games played
12. Paul Reinhart - 648 career games played in injury shortened tenure.
13. Doug Sulliman - 631 games played
14. Brian Propp - 1016 games played, 425 career goals
15. Brad McCrimmon - 1222 games played
16. Jay Wells - 1098 games played
17. Duane Sutter - 731 games played
20. Michel Goulet - 1089 games played, 548 career goals, Hockey Hall of Fame
21. Kevin Lowe - 1254 games played, 6 Stanley Cups

When a first round can produce 11 1000+ games played players out of 21 selections, that's amazing. Even more amazing: this draft produced 6 more 1000+ games players:

40. Dave Christian, 41. Dale Hunter, 42. Neal Broten, 44. Guy Carbonneau, 48. Mark Messier, 69. Glenn Anderson.

And several players close to 1000 games, including 27. Brent Ashton (998 gp), 30. Mark Hardy (915 gp), 66. John Ogrodnick (928 gp), 103. Thomas Steen (950 gp), 112. Doug Crossman (914 GP) and 120 Mike Krushelnyski (897 gp).

Of the 126 players selected, an astonishing 103 (over 81%) played in the NHL. Other notable players include Tomas Jonsson, Lindy Ruff, Pelle Lindbergh, Mats Naslund, Tim Hunter, Rick Wamsley, Keith Crowder, Rollie Melanson, Jim Peplinski, Ray Neufeld, Anton Stastny, Dirk Graham, Alan Haworth and Tim Watters.

So why was this draft so prolific? It was essentially two drafts in one. For the first time since 1974, the NHL allowed the drafting of underage players. This draft also included the influx of underage players from the WHA, which had merged with the NHL in the spring of 1979. In its final season, the WHA had signed numerous teenagers, and their development had been accelerated by their opportunity to enter pro hockey so early. The NHL never had a chance to draft these players.

Three players posed problems for this draft: Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier played in the WHA as 17 year olds and would normally have been too young to enter the NHL in 1979. Tom McCarthy was a junior player whose birthday was just shy of the draft date, which would have forced him to wait one more year. McCarthy threatened legal action.

In Gretzky's case, the NHL avoided a draft dilemma by letting Edmonton retain his rights from its WHA franchise. Although why the NHL would rape the WHA teams like they did but allow them to keep the crown jewel is something I never understood.

Messier, however, was coming from a defunct WHA team (Cincinnati) and had to join a new one in the NHL. The NHL made 18 year old Messier eligible for this draft, and all 18 year olds would be made eligible the following year, with the provision that if they could not make the jump to the NHL immediately then they would be returned to their junior clubs.

The NHL solved the McCarthy legal threat by holding the draft in August, just after McCarthy's birthday, in order to make him eligible.

The late draft date, the latest in NHL draft history, forced the NHL to hold a small draft of just 126 players. This created free agent opportunities for other junior players. In all, 31 prospects were signed as free agents, including Dino Ciccarelli, Tim Kerr, J-F Sauve, Ron Flockhart and Dave Pichette.

On the interesting side, Minnesota used pick 111 to draft Brian Gualazzi. Gualazzi never played in the NHL and later attended Dalhousie University to become a crown attorney in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. While playing junior hockey for the Soo Greyhounds, Gualazzi unsuspectingly made a big impact on hockey history when he refused to give up his jersey number 9 to a 16 year old rookie, forcing the rookie to switch from his cherished number. That rookie? #99 Wayne Gretzky.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1978

All junior hockey eyes were on a 16 year old named Wayne Gretzky in 1978. He was not eligible for the NHL draft, but the phenom's greatness was already on display as he tore apart the Ontario League scoring race at such a young age.

The other player who scouts drooled about was the only player to outscore Gretzky that year - 20 year old Bobby Smith. Many scouts preferred Smith over Gretzky anyways, largely because of his big body (6'4" and 210lbs). Many were still skeptical about Gretzky's size.

Smith would go on to enjoy a fantastic career with Minnesota and Montreal, but he was just one of many solid NHL players selected in this draft.

Two-way center Ryan Walter was selected #2 by Washington. Wayne Babych went in the 3-hole to St. Louis. Big Behn Wilson, Ken "the Rat" Linseman, Willie Huber, Brad Marsh, Brent Peterson, Larry Playfair, Steve Tambellini, Al Secord and Dave Hunter were all first rounders.

Another first rounder was Danny Geoffrion, son of Boom Boom Geoffrion. In what was one of several mistakes the usually draft savvy Canadiens would make in coming years, the Habs took a chance on Danny at the 8 spot. Geoffrion never could last in the NHL.

The Habs would have been better off drafting any of Steve Payne, Joel Quenneville, Steve Christoff, Don Maloney, Tony McKegney or Al Jensen, all notable second rounders.

The 1978 Draft proved to be big and plentiful. 234 selections were made, including 31 by the St. Louis Blues alone. It is hard to miss with the third overall pick, and they didn't with future 50 goal scorer Babych. But of the other 30 players selected only Jim Nill and Paul MacLean would play in St. Louis, and both were traded away too early. The Blues also drafted Risto Siltanen and Bob Froese, though neither would play for the Blues. The other 25 draft selections were all misses.

Pittsburgh, on the other hand had only 3 selections, 2 of which played with the Penguins in the NHL, albeit for a combined total of just 5 games. The two players - Rob Garner and Mike Meeker, nephew of the legendary Howie Meeker.

Some notable mid to late round finds include Captain Canuck Stan Smyl at #40, notable US Olympian Rob McClanahan at 49, tough guy Glen Cochrane at 50, undersized defenseman Curt Giles at 54, Swedish sensation Bengt-Ake Gustafsson at 55, Louie Franceschetti at 71, stay at home defender Tom Laidlaw at 93, Mark Taylor, Cyclone Taylor's grandson, at 100, 1000+ NHL game man Keith Acton, the last helmetless player Craig MacTavish at 153, Viking Alberta's Darryl Sutter at 179 and super tough guy Chris Nilan at 231!

Two other notable late round picks would ultimately re-enter the NHL draft and one day star in the NHL, but not with the teams that originally selected them. At 198 Philadelphia took a flyer at on Anton Stastny. This was before his brother Peter Stastny had defected to North America. Anton re-entered the draft in 1979, chosen by the Quebec Nordiques. At 201 the Montreal Canadiens took a real long shot and drafted up and coming Soviet superstar Viacheslav Fetisov. He would re-enter the draft in 1983 and drafted by New Jersey, but he still didn't arrive in the NHL until the turn of the decade.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1977

The 1977 NHL Entry Draft featured 185 selections, 97 of which would appear in the NHL.

Dale McCourt was chosen 1st overall by Detroit. McCourt was a junior superstar in the OHA. He was a perennial 50 goal scorer who captained the the Hamilton Fincups to the Memorial Cup in 1976. He was also honored as the Stafford Smythe Memorial trophy as Memorial Cup MVP. McCourt also represented Canada at the 1977 World Junior Championships where he was tournament all-star and helped the nation win a silver medal. That season he was named the Canadian Major Junior player-of-the-year in 1977. He graduated junior as the all time leader in many scoring categories in all of Ontario (all records since broken).

Unfortunately McCourt never reached his potential in the NHL. The professional lifestyle did not sit well with his undeniable love of the game, particularly following an odd court case about his playing rights.

Detroit passed up on a mean-spirited defenseman named Barry "Bubba" Beck to get McCourt. Beck went to the Colorado Rockies, although he would be best known as a New York Ranger.

Other solid NHLers from the first round included Robert Picard (3rd), Doug Wilson (6th), Brad Maxwell (7th), Lucien Deblois (8th), Mark Napier (10th), John Anderson (11th), Ron Duguay (13th) and Ric Seiling (14th).

Hind sight is always 20/20 of course, but how in the heck those 14 players were selected ahead of Mike Bossy is baffling. Bossy is clearly the class of the draft and one of only two Hall of Famers (Rod Langway, picked 36th, being the other). Bossy may be the best pure goal scorer in the history of the game.

The Islanders continued their strong drafting ways in the second round, picking up John Tonelli at #33. Dave Semenko and Langway were the only other significant 2nd rounders.

There were a number of late round picks that panned out with time, including goaltenders Glen Hanlon, Murray Bannerman, Greg Millen, Markus Mattsson, Richard Sevigny, Pete Peeters, and Olympic hero Jim Craig.

Skaters included Gordie Roberts, Mario Marois, Mark Johnson, Jim Korn, Jack O'Callahan, Bobby Gould and Craig Laughlin.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1976

In a cost cutting measure, the NHL downsized its annual entry draft in 1976, allowing for only 135 picks. Several of its member teams were in financial difficulty, and the bidding war for junior player services with the rival WHA proved costly. The Central Scouting Bureau was created so that individual teams could save on scouting expenses.

Of the 135 draftees, 73 would graduate to the NHL. History would show that the draft got off to a very slow start. Washington selected defenseman Rick Green. Green was a fine defensive defenseman, but one dimensionally so and very nondescript. He wasn't a bust, but he wasn't the prototypical star a 1st overall pick is expected to be, either.

That's alright, neither were the subsequent picks of Blair Chapman, Glen Sharpley and Fred Williams. California provided the shock of the draft at #5, picking Swedish defenseman Bjorn Johansson, easily the highest draft placing of any European. That was about the only time he raised any eyebrows in North America though. He would play just 15 NHL games with the relocated franchise in Cleveland.

The first star of the draft was Don Murdoch, drafted by the Rangers at #6. "Murder" was the toast of Manhattan before drugs and alcohol ruined his promising career.

The clean cut Bernie Federko followed at #7 by St. Louis, and he would be the only Hall of Famer of the class of '76. Buddy Cloutier was drafted 9th, and he was electrifying as Murdoch, but most of his great years came in the World Hockey Association.

Otherwise the 1st round featured forgettable support players like Peter Lee, Paul Gardner and Rod Schutt.

If Federko was the face of Blues, they drafted their heart and soul in round 2. Brian Sutter headlined a 2nd round that also included Greg Malone, Reed Larson, Randy Carlyle and future coach/broadcaster Barry Melrose.

Some later finds included Mike McEwan, Thomas Gradin, Morris Lukowich, Mike Liut (yet another St. Louis cornerstone), Kent Nilsson, Ken Morrow, Ron Wilson and Anders Hakansson.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1975

The 1975 NHL Entry Draft featured 217 selections, 87 of which graduated to the NHL.

But the draft was far from exceptional. In fact, one could make a very good argument that the man selected 210th overall was the best player when all the NHL careers were said and done.

The Los Angeles Kings selected Clarkson undergrad Dave Taylor. Then considered far too skinny to be a NHL prospect, he would go on to set 1975 draft bests with 1111 career NHL games played, 431 career goals, 638 career assists, and 1069 career points.

Those numbers dwarfed first overall pick Mel Bridgman. Bridgman, selected by Philadelphia after acquiring the pick from Washington, would score 252 goals and 701 points in 977 games.

Other notable 1st rounders include Rick "Jumbo" Lapointe, Pat Price, Pierre Mondou, Tim Young and Bob Sauve.

The second and third rounds didn't produce any great stars either. Dennis Maruk was the closest, once scoring 60 goals in a season. Brian Engblom and Doug Jarvis were very steady defensive presences, while Mike O'Connell, Pat Hughes, Paul Baxter and goaltender Doug Soetart had solid careers.

Joining Taylor in the late rounds came tough hombres Willi Plett, Stan Jonathan, Paul Holmgren, Ron Delorme and goaltender Don Edwards.

Two interesting trends developed in this draft. Dave Taylor was one of 68 collegiate players selected, thus suggesting the NHL's disrespect of the college route was ending. Also, 6 more Europeans were selected. Three Finns and two Swedes, and Philadelphia made history in becoming the first NHL team to draft a Soviet player. The Flyers took Viktor Khatulev with a ninth-round pick. Khatulev, who had no idea he was drafted until 4 years later, never made it to the NHL. In fact he was kicked out of Russian hockey because he was the Soviet equivalent of a Broad Street Bully.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1974

The 1974 NHL Entry Draft certainly won't be remembered as the best 1st round ever. Expansion Washington took Regina defenseman Greg Joly 1st overall, but he struggled with the pressures of being the face of the new franchise, and was a bust.

Another new franchise, Kansas City, took Wilf Paiement at #2. Wilf had some nice numbers, almost 1000 games and over 350 goals and over 800 points, but all with very weak teams. He will always be remembered as that other guy who wore #99.

California made another anonymous selection at #3, selecting Paiement's junior teammate Rick Hampton. Hampton will be better remembered as one of the men who helped bring down agent Alan Eagleson. Eagleson squandered away virtually all of the naive Hampton's earnings.

The New York Islanders took a bit of a diamond on the rough at #4, and it paid off handsomely. Clark Gillies would go on to be a huge part of the Islanders 1980s dynasty.

Montreal had 5 of the next 10 picks, but to further illustrate the weakness of this draft they could only come away with two players of note: Doug Risebrough and Mario Tremblay.

For some reason Montreal twice passed over Pierre Larouche, who would become a 50 goal scorer in the NHL. Pittsburgh selected him 8th overall, but Montreal corrected that miss by trading Peter Mahovlich to the Penguins in exchange for Larouche in 1977.

Other notable 1st rounders include Buffalo's Lee Fogolin Jr at #11. The second generation NHLer was best remembered as the helmetless veteran of the early Edmonton Oilers. The Rangers selected Dave Maloney and Chicago selected Grant Mulvey.

Interestingly, one of Montreal's picks was Rick Chartraw, an unspectacular defenseman. Chartraw was born and lived in Venezuela for first 3½ years of his life while his father was on assignment building power stations in that country. Chartraw would spend parts of his childhood in Dayton, Chicago and Orlando, before settling in Erie, Pennsylvania at age 10.

A more impressive batch of second rounders was opened by Washington's selecting of power forward/tough guy Mike Marson. Marson would prove to be a bust, but more because of the many off ice pressures he faced as only the NHL's third black player, and first who was expected to star. To top it all off, he had to do this in Washington, DC, where relations with a poor black community already created tension. Marson became a political pawn, and couldn't cope.

If the Islanders got the class of the 1st round in Clark Gillies, then they got the class of the draft in the 2nd round with Bryan Trottier at #22. How every team in the league passed over him is mindboggling, at least in 20/20 hindsight. Trottier and Gillies were the only two Hall of Famers from 1974.

Another superstar was found in the second round: Mark Howe. Howe, of course the son of Gordie Howe, would spend most of the 70s starring in the WHA, but he was also noted as a star defenseman with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1980s. He's not in the Hall of Fame, but he should be. Gordie's other son, Marty Howe, was also drafted in 1974, 51st overall.

Other notable 2nd rounders include Guy Chouinard, Danny Gare, Tiger Williams and Ron Greschner.

Some of the late round finds included Bob Bourne, Charlie Simmer, Bob Murray, Harold Snepsts, Terry Ruskowski, Mike Rogers, Mike Palmateer, Dave Langevin, Reggie Lemelin, Dave Lumley and Stefan Persson. Persson and Langevin were drafted by the Islanders, and were nice parts of their dynasty's defense. The Islanders did not draft Bourne, but were wise enough to trade for him 3 months later in September, 1974.

There were 246 players drafted in 1974, 98 of whom reached the NHL. 200 of the players were Canadian, 40 were American and 6 were European.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1973

The top pick of 1973 was a no-brainer. Ottawa 67s star Denis Potvin had dominated junior hockey like no other defenseman since Bobby Orr.

Montreal, the most active team on draft day, was determined to get Potvin. The Canadiens re-positioned themselves by trading for several extra high picks and then offered the Islanders all kinds of deals for the No. 1 choice. Islanders general manager Bill Torrey was not interested, however. He held on to the top pick and wisely selected Potvin, who became the building block for a future hockey dynasty that would take over from Montreal's in 1980.

Montreal ended up with Bob Gainey at #8. Joining Potvin and Gainey in the Hall of Fame one day would be Lanny McDonald, Toronto's pick at #4. The Leafs would have to give McDonald, then sans-moustache, $120,000 a year contract, huge numbers in those days, to keep him from signing with the WHA.

McDonald's centerman in Medicine Hat, Tom Lysiak, was the second pick overall, by Atlanta. Other notable 1st rounders include #5 John Davidson, #6 Andre Savard, #7 Blaine Stoughton, #13 Darcy Rota, #14 Rick Middleton and #15 Ian Turnbull.

Round two featured the 1975 Rookie of the Year Eric Vail. Other notables include Blake Dunlop, Colin Campbell and Pat Hickey.

Late round finds include Dave Lewis, Bob Gassoff, Dean Talafous, Ken Houston, John Wensink, Dennis Polonich, Bob Lorimer, Larry Patey, Gord Lane and Greg Fox. Lots of toughness in that group, but not a lot of stars.

In all the 1973 draft featured 168 selections, 70 of which would appear in the NHL. 154 of the selections where Canadian. The rest were American, as again no Europeans were selected.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1972

Though the 1972 Entry Draft produced two Hall of Famer forwards, this draft really lacked any star quality. However it did have quantity, as there were many notable long term pros drafted.

The NHL welcomed the expansion N.Y. Islanders and Atlanta, and granted them the right to make the first two picks. The Islanders got the No. 1 pick, based on a mutual agreement with Atlanta that had enabled the Flames to select Phil Myre first overall in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft. The rest of the teams drafted in reverse order of their 1971-72 finish.

The Islanders selected future captain Billy Harris of the Toronto Marlies 1st overall. He'd go onto play nearly 900 games, but was far from the most memorable 1st overall pick.

Atlanta didn't do a lot better with Quebec's Jacques Richard. There was no denying Richard's immense talent, as he demonstrated particularly in the WHA, but his hard drinking ways messed with his career and eventually cost him his life.

Vancouver drafted 3rd overall, and selected the popular Don Lever. Lever would go onto play the most NHL games of anyone in the draft, but though he was a solid NHL citizen he wasn't the most prolific. The Canucks passed over Hall of Famers Steve Shutt (4th to Montreal) and Bill Barber (7th to Philadelphia). Other notable 1st round picks include #5 Jim Schoenfeld, #6 Bunny Larocque, #9 Wayne Merrick, #13 Phil Russell, #14 John Van Boxmeer and #15 Bob MacMillan.

The 1st round had 3 busts. The Rangers chose LW Albert Blanchard 10th overall, but he never played a NHL game. Blanchard never found his game without his Kitchener center Bill Barber. Jerry Byers, the third member of the Barber-Blanchard line in Kitchener, was drafted by Minnesota 12th overall, but he only found his way into 43 NHL contests. Boston's first round draft pick problems continued at #16, selecting winger Mike Bloom, who failed to blossom in the NHL.

The second round featured useful players Lorne Henning, Tom Bladon and Stan Weir, and there was some real finds late in the 1972 draft. Bob Nystrom, Jimmy Watson, Denis Herron, Jean Hamel, Al MacAdam, Bill Nyrop, Peter McNab, Richard Brodeur, Pat Boutette and Garry Howatt were all salvaged in the late rounds.

In total 152 players were selected, 67 making at least a one game appearance in the NHL. 141 of the players taken were Canadian and 11 were Americans. No Europeans were selected, unless you consider Nystrom to be European. He was raised in Canada, but born in Sweden. Similarly Gordie Clark was raised in New Brunswick but born in Great Britain. He was a Boston pick who never made the cut.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1971

By 1971 it became common practice for weaker teams to trade draft picks in exchange for veteran players of the better teams. The idea, of course, is immediate help, but this distressed NHL president Clarence Campbell because he felt it would defeat the purpose of achieving long-term parity for the expansion teams. By 1971 the practice was becoming a bit epidemic, as 6 of the 14 first round picks were traded.

The shrewdest of all trades was Montreal trading Ralph Backstrom to Los Angeles on Jan. 26, 1971. The Canadiens had already owned California's No. 1 pick, thanks to the Ernie Hicke trade earlier, but Los Angeles was threatening to finish below California in the final standings. By helping the Kings, the Canadiens were able to keep the Golden Seals in last place and ensure the powerhouse Canadiens the first overall draft selection.

And what a draft choice it would be. Montreal did secure the 1st overall selection, and had to choose between two French-Canadian scoring superstars - Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne. Talk about the rich getting richer!

Montreal obviously took Lafleur, and though he got off to a slow start in his career, he took the torch from Bobby Orr be the league's most exciting player, and delivered 5 Stanley Cups.

Dionne was selected 2nd by Detroit, and after setting the league on fire in the Motor City, bolted for Los Angeles where he is best remembered. Though Dionne would score more goals than Lafleur (731 compared to 560) and more points (1771 compared to 1353), Dionne would play in relative obscurity and never came close to winning a championship title.

The first round thinned out rather significantly after these two superstars were selected. Rick Martin (Buffalo), Steve Vickers (NY Rangers) and Terry O'Reilly (Boston) are other notable selections.

The second round produced a couple of players who would go onto play in over 1000 games in the NHL. Buffalo found another gem in defensive forward extraordinare Craig Ramsey at #19. Montreal found yet another cornerstone piece in Larry Robinson at #20. Pittsburgh picked Rick Kehoe at #22, and he'd go onto score 371 goals in 906 NHL games.

There were very few late round pick ups. Bill Hajt was found in round three by Buffalo, and he'd play 854 games. New York Rangers found a good defensive spark plug in Jerry Butler at #55.

In total, 50 of the 117 players selected appeared in at least one NHL game. Of those 117 players 109 were from Canada, 8 from USA and 0 from Europe. There was 63 forwards, 45 defensemen and 9 goaltenders drafted.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1969

1969 marked the first time the amateur draft would completely enter the modern stage. All junior prospects were eligible for drafting as the old sponsorship system had been phased out. Under the draft system, all teams had a chance to acquire the top prospects in junior hockey, although teams would bedraft in reverse order of finish the previous season. This gave the worst teams a chance to improve.

There was one notable exception to the reverse order rule. Since the draft's inception in 1963, the Montreal Canadiens, operating in the only non-English market in the NHL, cleverly used their political pull to secure the top two French-Canadian players in any draft until 1969, should they choose.

The Canadiens took full advantage of this rule in 1969, seeing as though the exemption would be discontinued in 1970 and beyond. The Habs proceeded to select Rejean Houle and Marc Tardif, both from the Montreal Jr. Canadiens. Other notable first rounders included Dick Redmond, Moose Dupont, Ivan Boldirev and John Van Boxmeer. There was no real star player, although Tardif did put up some terrific numbers in the upstart World Hockey Association.

1969 was a weak draft year, full of busts. Boston picked third and fourth, selecting two wingers: Don Tannahill from Niagara Falls and Frank Spring from Edmonton. The duo combined for just a paltry 172 career games.

Philadelphia did even worse. With the 6th pick they draft Bob Currier of Cornwall. Currier would join 9th overall pick Ernie Moser of Toronto as the only two 1st round picks of 1969 never to play in the playoffs.

The Flyers made up for the Currier bust by overlooking the diabetic health concerns of Bobby Clarke in round 2, 17th overall. Without a doubt Clarke proved to be the best of the class. He is the only player from that year to be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Philadelphia also found some late round help two, securing two physical forwards who could play over 500 games each: Dave "The Hammer" Schultz (52nd) and Don Saleski (64th)
But the most notable late round find was easily Butch Goring, 51st by Los Angeles. Goring, a 4 time Stanley Cup champion with the NY Islanders, would join Boldirev and Clarke as the only three players from this draft to play in over 1000 NHL games.

Although he would never play in the National Hockey League, Tommi Salmelainen made NHL history when he was drafted 66th overall by the St. Louis Blues. The Finn became the first European trained player drafted by the NHL. (note - though Boldirev was born in Zranjanin, Yugoslavia, he moved to Canada as an infant.) Salmelainen's son Tony Salmelainen did make the NHL after being drafted 30 years later.

Of the 84 players selected in 1969 (58 forwards, 18 defenseman and 8 goaltenders), 49 of them would play at least one game in the NHL. 78 of the 84 players were Canadian.

NHL Entry Draft History: 1963 through 1968

The NHL Amateur Draft was created in 1963 as a means of phasing out the sponsorship of amateur teams by NHL clubs. Previously NHL teams would sign pre-junior players to C-Forms on a first come, first served basis. This committed the player to that particular organization from their mid-teenage years. With expansion in the horizon, the NHL wanted to abolish this program in order to level the playing field.

Because most of hockey's top junior players were already assigned to NHL teams, there were only a handful of top prospects available from 1963 through 1968. It wasn't until 1969 that all C-Form signed junior players were phased out.

1963
1st pick - Garry Monahan - Montreal
Other notable players - Peter Mahovlich (2nd), Montreal; Walt McKenchnie (6th), Toronto; Jim McKenny (17th), Toronto; Gerry Meehan (21st), Toronto
Best player - Peter Mahovlich

1964
1st pick - Claude Gauthier - Detroit
Other notable players - Tim Ecclestone (9th), NY Rangers; Ken Dryden (14th), Boston; Syl Apps, Jr. (21st), NY Rangers
Best player - Ken Dryden

1965
1st pick - Andre Veilleux - New York Rangers
Other notable players - Pierre Bouchard (5th), Montreal
Best player - Pierre Bouchard

1966
1st pick - Barry Gibbs - Boston
Other notable players - Brad Park (2nd), NY Rangers; Don Luce (14th), NY Rangers; Phil Myre (5th), Montreal
Best player - Brad Park

1967
1st pick - Rick Pagnutti - Los Angeles
Other notable players - Battleship Kelly (16th), Toronto
Best player - Battleship Kelly

1968
1st pick - Michel Plasse - Montreal
Other notable players - John Marks (9th), Chicago; Curt Bennett (16th), St. Louis
Best player - Curt Bennett

By the way, for those greatly appreciated regular visitors, the profiles of Battleship Kelly, Brad Park, Don Luce, Pierre Bouchard, Garry Monahan are all new profiles!