The list of the overall first in the NHL Entry Draft lists all players who were selected in the first round as part of the NHL Entry Draft (until 1978 Amateur Draft ) of the North American professional ice hockey league National Hockey League (NHL). Through the draft, the NHL franchises have the opportunity to secure the transfer rights to young talent from the amateur and youth sector who meet the suitability requirements of the league. With the right to vote, the strongest player of the respective age group is usually selected. In the further part the list is evaluated statistically.
Yellow shaded players were in the squad of an NHL team during the current season . The statistics of the players currently in the squad are correct at the end of the regular 2018/19 season . Players with a green background are active during the current season, but are not currently part of an NHL team. Since 1963 a total of 57 players have been selected in the first overall position, of which 53 were used in the NHL.
The NHL Amateur Draft first took place on June 5, 1963. The then six franchises of the NHL, the so-called Original Six , had the opportunity to secure the transfer rights to the best players who were older than 17 years and had not yet been promoted by an NHL team.
In the first six years the clubs secured the rights to a total of 122 players, with about 20 being selected from one of the franchises each year. Of the six overall first, all of whom came from Canada, only three made it to the NHL.
Abbreviations: Pos = position, GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, PIM = penalty minutes Explanations: The links to the columns "Nationality" and "Position" can be found in the section Statistics .
As the NHL expanded, so did the NHL Amateur Draft. From 1969 the now twelve teams in the league were able to select any player who was younger than 20 years in the draft. As a result of this change, 84 players were selected in the first year, on average more than four times as many as in previous years. In 1979 the Amateur Draft was renamed Entry Draft.
Of the 50 players selected for the first overall position since the reform, all but the most recent pick have played in the NHL. In 1983, Brian Lawton was the first to be selected as an American, and thus the first non-Canadian. The Swede Mats Sundin was the first European in 1989 to receive this honor. The Québec Nordiques secured the transfer rights to his person . The first goalkeeper was chosen by the New York Islanders in 2000 with the American Rick DiPietro . Previously, only Michel Plasse had come to an NHL club as a goalkeeper with the first draft right at the 1968 edition , and thus before the new draft regulation.
Abbreviations: Pos = position, GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, PIM = penalty minutes Explanations: The links to the columns "Nationality" and "Position" can be found in the section Statistics .
About 70% of the 57 players selected for the top overall position are from Canada . This is followed by just five other nations, the USA , Russia , the Czech Republic , Sweden and Switzerland , from whose country at least one player managed to be selected first. With a clear gap, mostly center forwards , so-called centers, were drawn. The Canadiens de Montréal had the most draft rights at the beginning of a draft with a total of five.
