Sidney Crosby, the first player taken in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

The NHL Entry Draft, originally known as the NHL Amateur Draft, is a collective meeting in which the franchises of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available amateur players who meet the eligibility requirements to play professional hockey in the NHL. First held in 1963, the draft prior to 1969 was a shorter affair. Any amateur player who was 17 years of age and older and was not already sponsored by an NHL club was eligible to be drafted. In 1969 the rules were changed so that any amateur player between the ages of 17 and 20 was eligible to be drafted.^[1] The draft has grown and in 2009 211 players were selected over seven rounds.^[2]

A total of 46 different players have been selected first. Of those, all but 11 have been Canadian in nationality. The Montreal Canadiens have had the most first overall picks of any other team, selecting five players first between 1963 and 1980. Five players have come from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, more than any other team. Eight players have won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year, and five have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

[edit] First overall choices

Key

Draft	Selected by	Player	Nat.	Position	Amateur/junior/former club	League
1963	Montreal Canadiens	Monahan, GarryGarry Monahan	Canada  Canada	Forward	St. Michael's Juveniles	—
1964	Detroit Red Wings	Gauthier, ClaudeClaude Gauthier ¤	Canada  Canada	Forward	Comite des jeunes (Rosemont)	—
1965	New York Rangers	Veilleux, AndreAndre Veilleux ¤	Canada  Canada	Forward	Montreal Jr. B	—
1966	Boston Bruins	Gibbs, BarryBarry Gibbs	Canada  Canada	Defenceman	Estevan Bruins	SJHL
1967	Los Angeles Kings	Pagnutti, RickRick Pagnutti ¤	Canada  Canada	Defenceman	Garson Native Sons	NOHA
1968	Montreal Canadiens	Plasse, MichelMichel Plasse	Canada  Canada	Goaltender	Drummondville Rangers	QMJHL
1969	Montreal Canadiens	Houle, RejeanRejean Houle	Canada  Canada	Forward	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA
1970	Buffalo Sabres	Perreault, GilbertGilbert Perreault #	Canada  Canada	Forward	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA
1971	Montreal Canadiens	Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur *	Canada  Canada	Forward	Quebec Remparts	QMJHL
1972	New York Islanders	Harris, BillyBilly Harris	Canada  Canada	Forward	Peterborough Petes	OHA
1973	New York Islanders	Potvin, DenisDenis Potvin #	Canada  Canada	Defenceman	Ottawa 67's	OHA
1974	Washington Capitals	Joly, GregGreg Joly	Canada  Canada	Defenceman	Regina Pats	WCHL
1975	Philadelphia Flyers	Bridgman, MelMel Bridgman	Canada  Canada	Forward	Victoria Cougars	WCHL
1976	Washington Capitals	Green, RickRick Green	Canada  Canada	Defenceman	London Knights	OHA
1977	Detroit Red Wings	McCourt, DaleDale McCourt	Canada  Canada	Forward	Hamilton Fincups	OHA
1978	Minnesota North Stars	Smith, BobbyBobby Smith ^	Canada  Canada	Forward	Ottawa 67's	OHA
1979	Colorado Rockies	Ramage, RobRob Ramage	Canada  Canada	Defenceman	London Knights	OHA
1980	Montreal Canadiens	Wickenheiser, DougDoug Wickenheiser	Canada  Canada	Forward	Regina Pats	WHL
1981	Winnipeg Jets	Hawerchuk, DaleDale Hawerchuk #	Canada  Canada	Forward	Cornwall Royals	QMJHL
1982	Boston Bruins	Kluzak, GordGord Kluzak	Canada  Canada	Defenceman	Billings Bighorns	WHL
1983	Minnesota North Stars	Lawton, BrianBrian Lawton	United States  USA	Forward	Mount Saint Charles Academy	—
1984	Pittsburgh Penguins	Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux #	Canada  Canada	Forward	Laval Voisins	QMJHL
1985	Toronto Maple Leafs	Clark, WendelWendel Clark	Canada  Canada	Forward	Saskatoon Blades	WHL
1986	Detroit Red Wings	Murphy, JoeJoe Murphy	Canada  Canada	Forward	Michigan State	CCHA
1987	Buffalo Sabres	Turgeon, PierrePierre Turgeon	Canada  Canada	Forward	Granby Bisons	QMJHL
1988	Minnesota North Stars	Modano, MikeMike Modano	United States  USA	Forward	Prince Albert Raiders	WHL
1989	Quebec Nordiques	Sundin, MatsMats Sundin	Sweden  Sweden	Forward	Nacka HK	Sweden
1990	Quebec Nordiques	Nolan, OwenOwen Nolan	Canada  Canada	Forward	Cornwall Royals	OHL
1991	Quebec Nordiques	Lindros, EricEric Lindros	Canada  Canada	Forward	Oshawa Generals	OHL
1992	Tampa Bay Lightning	Hamrlik, RomanRoman Hamrlik	Czech Republic  TCH	Defenceman	HC Zlin	Czechoslovakia
1993	Ottawa Senators	Daigle, AlexandreAlexandre Daigle	Canada  Canada	Forward	Victoriaville Tigres	QMJHL
1994	Florida Panthers	Jovanovski, EdEd Jovanovski	Canada  Canada	Defenceman	Windsor Spitfires	OHL
1995	Ottawa Senators	Berard, BryanBryan Berard ^	United States  USA	Defenceman	Detroit Junior Red Wings	OHL
1996	Ottawa Senators	Phillips, ChrisChris Phillips	Canada  Canada	Defenceman	Prince Albert Raiders	WHL
1997	Boston Bruins	Thornton, JoeJoe Thornton	Canada  Canada	Forward	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL
1998	Tampa Bay Lightning	Lecavalier, VincentVincent Lecavalier	Canada  Canada	Forward	Rimouski Océanic	QMJHL
1999	Atlanta Thrashers	Stefan, PatrikPatrik Stefan	Czech Republic  Czech Republic	Forward	Long Beach Ice Dogs	IHL
2000	New York Islanders	DiPietro, RickRick DiPietro	United States  USA	Goaltender	Boston University	Hockey East
2001	Atlanta Thrashers	Kovalchuk, IlyaIlya Kovalchuk	Russia  Russia	Forward	Spartak Moscow	Russia
2002	Columbus Blue Jackets	Nash, RickRick Nash	Canada  Canada	Forward	London Knights	OHL
2003	Pittsburgh Penguins	Fleury, Marc-AndreMarc-Andre Fleury	Canada  Canada	Goaltender	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles	QMJHL
2004	Washington Capitals	Ovechkin, AlexanderAlexander Ovechkin ^	Russia  Russia	Forward	Dynamo Moscow	Russia
2005	Pittsburgh Penguins	Crosby, SidneySidney Crosby	Canada  Canada	Forward	Rimouski Océanic	QMJHL
2006	St. Louis Blues	Johnson, ErikErik Johnson	United States  USA	Defenceman	United States NTDP	—
2007	Chicago Blackhawks	Kane, PatrickPatrick Kane ^	United States  USA	Forward	London Knights	OHL
2008	Tampa Bay Lightning	Stamkos, StevenSteven Stamkos	Canada  Canada	Forward	Sarnia Sting	OHL
2009	New York Islanders	Tavares, JohnJohn Tavares	Canada  Canada	Forward	London Knights	OHL

[edit] See also

• WHA Amateur Draft

[edit] References

General

Specific