The NHL entry draft has been increasingly targeting college and college-bound players as more and more alumni have found their way into the league over the years.
After World War II, college hockey was seen by most NHL executives as a backwater league for players who weren't good enough to play professionally. College teams were viewed in such a poor light that star junior players like Bill Hay and Red Berenson were told that attending college might prevent NHL teams from giving them a chance.[1] [2] In spite of this reticence, some players were able to reach the NHL in the 1960s though almost all were Canadian-born.
When the NHL instituted its first draft in 1963, this bias against US colleges persisted. Despite most youth players already being under contract, no active collegiate player was selected until 1967. That year, Detroit selected Al Karlander, a forward for Michigan Tech, with the 17th overall selection. He would go on to play parts of four seasons for the Wings.[3] The following year, John Marks became the first college player selected in the first round when Chicago chose him with the 9th overall selection. These selections coincided with the rapid expansion of the NHL as the league doubled its size in 1967, providing a much greater opportunity for college alumni to play professionally. The NHL continued to expand over the next several years and, with the addition of the WHA, there were 30 major professional teams in 1972 along with their affiliated minor league programs. With the sheer number of available roster spots, the NHL could no longer afford to ignore college hockey and the trends in the NHL entry draft demonstrated as much.
By the end of the 1970s, the WHA had withered and the NHL absorbed the remains of its former rival. The NHL draft was reorganized in 1979 with the age limit lowered from 20- to 19-years old and, for the first year, limited to just six rounds.[4] This reduction in picks had a corresponding drop in the total number of college players selected as well as the overall percentage. The '79 draft saw just 13% of players taken with ties to college programs, the lowest total since 1970. This was mostly due to the fact that NHL teams were hesitant to spend their high draft picks on college players. The following year, the age limit was lowered once more to 18-years olds, which now meant that most selections would be for players who were not yet attending college. Despite this, the number of college-bound players rapidly increased due to the NHL enlarging the draft to 10 rounds. Within two years, the draft had been expanded to twelve rounds, encompassing more than 250 selections, and college-affiliated players were some of the main beneficiaries. By the mid-80s, at least 1/3 of all players selected had ties to college programs. Additionally, after the furor caused by Detroit signing Adam Oates,[5] the NHL also introduced a supplemental draft which was used exclusively for over-aged college players no longer eligible for the standard draft.
The late 80s and early 90s were the high point for college players in the NHL draft but the situation rapidly changed following the collapse of the Soviet Union.[6] For years, NHL teams had drafted players behind the Iron Curtain on the off chance that one day they might be able to obtain the services of some of the best players in the world. Beginning in 1991, there was no longer an geopolitical barrier blocking such a move and NHL drafting tendencies quickly shifted to take advantage. The huge influx of players from eastern bloc countries dampened the influence of college hockey on the draft. In 1992 college players accounted for just 20% of drafted players, less than half of the total from 1990. Even with the NHL adding new teams across the sunbelt, college hockey's influence was dwindling and experienced a crisis in 1995.
Due to the lack of interest with the supplemental draft, the 1994 CBA eliminated that draft completely. Additionally, the standard draft saw two rounds eliminated, dropping the number of selections from 286 to 234. However, the biggest impact to college hockey was the general lack of interest with American players. Just 16 Americans were selected in 1995, putting the US in 4th behind both Russia and the Czech Republic and barely ahead of Finland. This calamity for USA Hockey was felt most keenly by college hockey which saw just 12 selection in the entire draft and none in the first 5 rounds. Part of the problem was that for years college hockey had been critiqued as being an offensive playground where defense was optional. However, because the NHL in the 80s and early 90s had the same ethos, this was not seen as a hindrance for players of that style. When the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup in 1995 with a defensive-first style, suddenly the offensive-heavy NCAA was no longer an asset. Fortunately, college teams were quick to adapt to the new state of affairs and new styles of play helped to rapidly reverse the situation. Just one year later, college hockey more than tripled the number of drafted players and continued a steady rise of the next several years.
Beginning with the 2002 draft, college hockey was able to find a firm spot in the player development hierarchy. Since then, between 1/4 and 1/3 of players taken in the NHL draft made their way through the college ranks. Only once (2013) has college hockey failed to have a player taken in the first round but it is far more common to see one of the top selections hail from a college program. Over a 10-year span, college hockey has seen at least one of its players taken in the first ten selections. 2021 was probably college hockey's most impressive performance in that regard with four of the first five picks all having ties to college programs.
| = Did not play in the NHL | = NHL All-Star team | = NHL All-Star[8] | = NHL All-Star and NHL All-Star team | = Hall of Famer |
| Year | Total | Earliest | NHL team | Player | College team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 1 | 21 | 3rd round; 14th overall | Roger Bamburak | |||
| 1964 | 5 | 24 | 1st round; 2nd overall | ||||
| 1965 | 0 | 11 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1966 | 1 | 24 | 4th round; 21st overall | ||||
| 1967 | 1 | 18 | 2nd round; 17th overall | ||||
| 1968 | 2 | 24 | 1st round; 9th overall | ||||
| 1969 | 7 | 84 | 3rd round; 30th overall | ||||
| 1970 | 15 | 115 | 2nd round; 23rd overall | ||||
| 1971 | 21 | 117 | 3rd round; 31st overall | Jim Cahoon | |||
| 1972 | 21 | 152 | 2nd round; 26th overall | ||||
| 1973 | 25 | 168 | 4th round; 53rd overall | ||||
| 1974 | 41 | 247 | 2nd round; 21st overall | ||||
| 1975 | 61 | 217 | 2nd round; 19th overall | ||||
| 1976 | 30 | 135 | 1st round; 8th overall | ||||
| 1977 | 46 | 185 | 2nd round; 27th overall | ||||
| 1978 | 73 | 234 | 2nd round; 24th overall | ||||
| 1979 | 16 | 126 | 1st round; 11th overall | ||||
| 1980 | 55 | 210 | 1st round; 8th overall | ||||
| 1981 | 48 | 211 | 1st round; 9th overall | ||||
| 1982 | 73 | 252 | 1st round; 21st overall | ||||
| 1983 | 70 | 242 | 1st round; 10th overall | ||||
| 1984 | 92 | 250 | 1st round; 6th overall | ||||
| 1985 | 84 | 252 | 1st round; 2nd overall | ||||
| 1986 | 92 | 252 | 1st round; 1st overall | ||||
| 1987 | 105 | 252 | 1st round; 19th overall | ||||
| 1988 | 111 | 252 | 1st round; 9th overall | ||||
| 1989 | 106 | 252 | 1st round; 5th overall | ||||
| 1990 | 105 | 252 | 1st round; 13th overall | ||||
| 1991 | 95 | 264 | 1st round; 4th overall | ||||
| 1992 | 53 | 264 | 1st round; 7th overall | ||||
| 1993 | 70 | 286 | 1st round; 4th overall | ||||
| 1994 | 61 | 286 | 1st round; 20th overall | ||||
| 1995 | 12 | 234 | 6th round; 146th overall | ||||
| 1996 | 41 | 241 | 1st round; 7th overall | ||||
| 1997 | 43 | 246 | 2nd round; 27th overall | ||||
| 1998 | 44 | 258 | 1st round; 26th overall | ||||
| 1999 | 58 | 272 | 1st round; 14th overall | ||||
| 2000 | 67 | 293 | 1st round; 1st overall | ||||
| 2001 | 56 | 289 | 1st round; 7th overall | ||||
| 2002 | 78 | 291 | 1st round; 5th overall | ||||
| 2003 | 72 | 292 | 1st round; 5th overall | ||||
| 2004 | 87 | 291 | 1st round; 5th overall | ||||
| 2005 | 69 | 230 | 1st round; 3rd overall | ||||
| 2006 | 69 | 213 | 1st round; 1st overall | ||||
| 2007 | 71 | 211 | 1st round; 2nd overall | ||||
| 2008 | 62 | 211 | 1st round; 7th overall | ||||
| 2009 | 61 | 211 | 1st round; 16th overall | ||||
| 2010 | 56 | 210 | 1st round; 14th overall | ||||
| 2011 | 54 | 211 | 1st round; 14th overall | ||||
| 2012 | 67 | 211 | 1st round; 9th overall | ||||
| 2013 | 56 | 211 | 2nd round; 31st overall | ||||
| 2014 | 56 | 210 | 1st round; 15th overall | ||||
| 2015 | 53 | 211 | 1st round; 2nd overall | ||||
| 2016 | 60 | 211 | 1st round; 7th overall | ||||
| 2017 | 59 | 217 | 1st round; 4th overall | ||||
| 2018 | 66 | 217 | 1st round; 4th overall | ||||
| 2019 | 71 | 217 | 1st round; 5th overall | ||||
| 2020 | 65 | 217 | 1st round; 5th overall | ||||
| 2021 | 55 | 224 | 1st round; 1st overall | ||||
| 2022 | 69 | 225 | 1st round; 3rd overall | ||||
| 2023 | 68 | 224 | 1st round; 3rd overall | ||||
| 2024 | 58 | 225 | 1st round; 1st overall |