NHL intra-league draft



The NHL intra-league was an annual draft held by the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1952 to 1975. The intra-league draft was created to help address the league’s competitive balance issues during the Original Six era, as the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, and Toronto Maple Leafs were the only teams to win the Stanley Cup in the ten years preceding the draft’s inception. It had an inauspicious start as the first two drafts featured no players being selected, and after the third saw only one player selected, the fourth draft wasn’t even held due to unanimous agreement among the six NHL teams that none of the available players was worth drafting. Eventually more players started being selected in the intra-league draft and, with the exception of 1967 when the NHL expanded in size from six to twelve teams, it was held every year through 1975. It was not held in 1976 and was replaced by the NHL waiver draft in 1977.

Rules
From 1956 until 1975, the intra-league draft was held in June during the NHL’s summer meetings. A few days prior to the intra-league draft each NHL club would be required to turn in a list of players to protect from selection. Players under a certain number of professional hockey seasons played and below a minimum number of NHL games played were exempt, as were amateur players NHL clubs owned the rights to.

The order of the intra-league draft was the reverse of the previous season’s standings, the non-playoff teams picking twice before playoff teams. Once a team claimed an unprotected player from another team, that team would be required to drop a player from their protection list. The team losing the player would receive a cash payment set by the league before the draft. In the first draft in 1952 this cash payment was set at $10,000 and by the final intra-league draft it increased to $40,000.

1952
The 1952 NHL intra-league draft was held on October 5, 1952. No selections were made.

1953
The 1953 NHL intra-league draft was held on September 10, 1953. No selections were made.

1954
The 1954 NHL intra-league draft was held on September 15, 1954. One selection was made.

1955
The 1955 NHL intra-league draft was to have taken place on September 7, 1955, however no meeting was held due to a lack of desirable players to select. Protection lists were submitted on September 1. The Intra-League draft was permanently moved to the NHL’s summer meetings in June the following year.

1956
The 1956 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 6, 1956. Two selections were made.

1957
The 1957 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 5, 1957. Five selections were made.

1958
The 1958 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 4, 1958. Ten selections were made.

1959
The 1959 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 10, 1959. Eight selections were made.

1960
The 1960 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 8, 1960. Nine selections were made.

1961
The 1961 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 14, 1961. Eight selections were made.

1962
The 1962 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 6, 1962. Nine selections were made.

1963
The 1963 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 5, 1963. Six selections were made.

1964
The 1964 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 10, 1964. Seven selections were made.

1965
The 1965 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 9, 1965. Seven selections were made.

1966
The 1966 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 15, 1966. Seven selections were made and twelve players total changed teams.

1968
The 1968 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 12, 1968. Eleven selections were made and 17 players total changed teams. Protection lists were released prior to the draft.

1969
The 1969 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 11, 1969. 16 selections were made and 22 players total changed teams. Protection lists were released prior to the draft.

1970
The 1970 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 9, 1970. 13 selections were made and 17 players total changed teams.

1971
The 1971 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 8, 1971. 23 selections were made and 25 players total changed teams. The draft lasted a record 13 rounds due to a loophole exploited by Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach, who noticed there was no rule preventing a team from reclaiming a player it had dropped from its protection list for a previous selection. Buffalo was involved in every selection from the fourth-round through the end of the draft.

1972
The 1972 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 5, 1972. Six selections were made and eight players total changed teams.

1973
The 1973 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 12, 1973. Six selections were made and seven players total changed teams.

1974
The 1974 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 10, 1974. Five selections were made and six players total changed teams.

1975
The 1975 NHL intra-league draft was held on June 17, 1975. Two selections were made. The Pittsburgh Penguins were not permitted to participate due to bankruptcy.