List of the first overall in the WHA Amateur Draft
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The list of the first overall in the WHA Amateur Draft lists all players who were selected in first position in the WHA Amateur Draft of the North American professional ice hockey league World Hockey Association (WHA). Through the draft, the WHA franchises between 1973 and 1977 had the opportunity to secure the transfer rights to young talent from the amateur and youth sector who met the league's suitability requirements . The Amateur Draft competed in the time of its existence with the NHL Entry Draft , which suffered from the quality of the players who participated in the Amateur Draft. After 1977 the amateur draft was abolished and the WHA tried to lure young players directly into the league as so-called free agents . In the further part the list is evaluated statistically.
In the seven years of the World Hockey Association's existence, the Amateur Draft has taken place a total of five times. He competed with the NHL Entry Draft, which is much more popular with the players . All first elected of the WHA Amateur Drafts were also elected in one of the NHL Entry Drafts and played only partially or not at all in the WHA because they preferred the NHL . Two of the five players therefore never played a game in the WHA and another two only played there temporarily.
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 .
All five first elected between 1973 and 1977 came from Canada and were divided into only three game positions. Most often were defenders of the WHA franchises selected contrast Center and goalkeeper ever. Five teams could each claim the right of the first draft pick once.
By far the most successful of the three players who decided to play in the WHA was the Canadian Claude Larose , who was selected by the Cincinnati Stingers in 1975 . He holds the best statistics among the three players with a clear gap. However, Pat Price and Blair Chapman , who played for a long time in the NHL and scored 261 and 231 points respectively, count as the most successful of the five first elected .
