NHL Intra-League Draft

thumb|right|One of the most consequential selections in the NHL Intra-League Draft occurred in 1969 when the Chicago Black Hawks selected goaltender Tony Esposito from the Montreal Canadiens. Esposito played the rest of his career with Chicago, winning three Vezina Trophies and earning induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.
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.
==Drafts==
===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.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	John McCormack	Chicago Black Hawks	Montreal Canadiens
===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.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	Larry Cahan 	New York Rangers 	Toronto Maple Leafs
1 	2 	Tom McCarthy	Detroit Red Wings	New York Rangers
===1957===
The 1957 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 5, 1957. Five selections were made.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	Larry Hillman 	Chicago Black Hawks	Detroit Red Wings
1 	2 	Bob Bailey 	Chicago Black Hawks	Detroit Red Wings
1 	3 	John Hanna 	New York Rangers 	Montreal Canadiens
1 	4 	Norm Johnson 	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
2 	5 	Bronco Horvath	Boston Bruins 	Montreal Canadiens
===1958===
The 1958 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 4, 1958. Ten selections were made.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	Bert Olmstead 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens
1 	2 	Jack Evans 	Chicago Black Hawks	New York Rangers
1 	3 	Jerry Wilson 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens
1 	4 	Al Arbour 	Chicago Black Hawks	Detroit Red Wings
1 	5 	Jean-Guy Gendron	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
1 	6 	Danny Lewicki 	Montreal Canadiens 	New York Rangers
2 	7 	Earl Balfour 	Chicago Black Hawks	Toronto Maple Leafs
2 	8 	Gord Redahl 	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
2 	9 	Dave Creighton 	Montreal Canadiens 	New York Rangers
3 	10 	Earl Reibel 	Boston Bruins 	Chicago Black Hawks
===1959===
The 1959 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 10, 1959. Eight selections were made.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	Gary Aldcorn 	Detroit Red Wings	Toronto Maple Leafs
1 	2 	Irv Spencer 	New York Rangers 	Montreal Canadiens
1 	3 	John McKenzie	Detroit Red Wings	Chicago Black Hawks
1 	4 	Ian Cushenan 	New York Rangers 	Chicago Black Hawks
1 	5 	Bruce Gamble 	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
2 	6 	Brian Cullen 	New York Rangers 	Toronto Maple Leafs
2 	7 	Aut Erickson 	Boston Bruins 	Chicago Black Hawks
3 	8 	Charlie Burns	Boston Bruins 	Detroit Red Wings
===1960===
The 1960 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 8, 1960. Nine selections were made.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	Billy McNeill 	New York Rangers 	Detroit Red Wings
1 	2 	Ted Green 	Boston Bruins 	Montreal Canadiens
1 	3 	Ted Hampson 	New York Rangers 	Toronto Maple Leafs
1 	4 	Jim Bartlett 	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
1 	5 	Parker MacDonald	Detroit Red Wings 	New York Rangers
1 	6 	Larry Hillman 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Boston Bruins
2 	7 	Jim Morrison 	New York Rangers 	Chicago Black Hawks
2 	8 	Tom Thurlby 	Boston Bruins 	Montreal Canadiens
2 	9 	Guy Rousseau 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens
===1961===
The 1961 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 14, 1961. Eight selections were made.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	Pat Stapleton 	Boston Bruins 	Chicago Black Hawks
1 	2 	Jean-Guy Gendron 	New York Rangers 	Montreal Canadiens
1 	3 	Earl Balfour 	Boston Bruins 	Chicago Black Hawks
1 	4 	Bronco Horvath 	Chicago Black Hawks	Boston Bruins
1 	5 	Al Arbour 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Chicago Black Hawks
2 	6 	Aut Erickson 	Chicago Black Hawks	Boston Bruins
3 	7 	Vic Hadfield 	New York Rangers 	Chicago Black Hawks
4 	8 	Orland Kurtenbach	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
===1962===
The 1962 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 6, 1962. Nine selections were made.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	Jean-Guy Gendron	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
1 	2 	Alex Faulkner 	Detroit Red Wings 	Toronto Maple Leafs
1 	3 	Warren Godfrey 	Boston Bruins 	Detroit Red Wings
1 	4 	Barclay Plager 	Detroit Red Wings 	Montreal Canadiens
1 	5 	Bert Olmstead 	New York Rangers 	Toronto Maple Leafs
2 	6 	Irv Spencer 	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
2 	7 	Floyd Smith 	Detroit Red Wings 	New York Rangers
2 	8 	Bronco Horvath 	New York Rangers 	Chicago Black Hawks
2 	9 	Ed Van Impe 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Chicago Black Hawks
===1963===
The 1963 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 5, 1963. Six selections were made.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	Andy Hebenton	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
1 	2 	Val Fonteyne 	New York Rangers 	Detroit Red Wings
1 	3 	Wayne Rivers 	Boston Bruins 	Detroit Red Wings
1 	4 	Irv Spencer 	Detroit Red Wings	Boston Bruins
2 	5 	Ted Hampson 	Detroit Red Wings	New York Rangers
3 	6 	Art Stratton 	Detroit Red Wings	Chicago Black Hawks
===1964===
The 1964 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 10, 1964. Seven selections were made.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	Jim Mikol 	New York Rangers 	Boston Bruins
1 	2 	Bob Woytowich 	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
1 	3 	Gary Bergman 	Detroit Red Wings 	Montreal Canadiens
1 	4 	Dickie Moore 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens
2 	5 	Murray Hall 	Detroit Red Wings 	Chicago Black Hawks
3 	6 	George Gardner	Detroit Red Wings 	Boston Bruins
3 	7 	Terry Sawchuk 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings
===1965===
The 1965 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 9, 1965. Seven selections were made.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from
1 	1 	Gerry Cheevers 	Boston Bruins 	Toronto Maple Leafs
1 	2 	Earl Ingarfield	New York Rangers 	Montreal Canadiens
1 	3 	Pat Stapleton 	Chicago Black Hawks	Toronto Maple Leafs
1 	4 	Bryan Watson 	Detroit Red Wings 	Chicago Black Hawks
2 	5 	Poul Popiel 	Boston Bruins 	Chicago Black Hawks
3 	6 	Norm Schmitz 	Boston Bruins 	Montreal Canadiens
4 	7 	Keith Wright 	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers
===1966===
The 1966 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 15, 1966. Seven selections were made and twelve players total changed teams.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from 	Compensation
1 	1 	Orland Kurtenbach	New York Rangers 	Toronto Maple Leafs	claim: John Brenneman
1 	2 	Al LeBrun 	Detroit Red Wings 	New York Rangers 	claim: Max Mestinsek
1 	3 	Don Blackburn 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens 	claim: Wally Boyer
1 	4 	Wally Boyer 	Chicago Black Hawks	Montreal Canadiens 	claim: Al MacNeil
2 	5 	Al MacNeil 	New York Rangers 	Montreal Canadiens 	claim: Mike McMahon Jr.
2 	6 	Ted Taylor 	Detroit Red Wings 	Montreal Canadiens 	claim: Pat Quinn
3 	7 	Ray Cullen 	Detroit Red Wings 	New York Rangers 	claim: Bryan Campbell
===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.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from 	Compensation
1 	1 	Carol Vadnais 	Oakland Seals 	Montreal Canadiens 	claim: Larry Cahan
1 	2 	Brian Conacher 	Detroit Red Wings 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	claim: Gary Marsh
1 	3 	Charlie Burns 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Oakland Seals 	claim: George Konik
1 	4 	Larry Mickey 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	New York Rangers 	claim: Larry Hillman
1 	5 	Larry Hillman 	Minnesota North Stars	New York Rangers 	claim: Bill Plager
1 	6 	Jacques Plante 	St. Louis Blues 	New York Rangers 	cash
1 	7 	Ron Buchanan 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Boston Bruins 	claim: Jean Gauthier
2 	8 	Fern Rivard 	Minnesota North Stars	Philadelphia Flyers 	cash
2 	9 	Myron Stankiewicz	St. Louis Blues 	Los Angeles Kings 	cash
3 	10 	Larry Hale 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Minnesota North Stars	claim: Bill Sutherland
4 	11 	Bill Sutherland 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	Minnesota North Stars	claim: Duane Rupp
===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.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from 	Compensation
1 	1 	Dick Sentes 	Minnesota North Stars	Montreal Canadiens 	cash
1 	2 	Tony Esposito 	Chicago Black Hawks 	Montreal Canadiens 	claim: Jack Norris
1 	3 	Glen Sather 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Boston Bruins 	claim: Bill Speer
1 	4 	Matt Ravlich 	Detroit Red Wings 	Chicago Black Hawks	cash
1 	5 	Larry Hillman 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Montreal Canadiens 	claim: Jean-Guy Gendron
1 	6 	Andre Boudrias	St. Louis Blues 	Chicago Black Hawks	cash
1 	7 	Marv Edwards 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	Pittsburgh Penguins	claim: Al Smith
1 	8 	Larry Mickey 	Montreal Canadiens 	Toronto Maple Leafs	cash
2 	9 	Grant Erickson	Minnesota North Stars	Boston Bruins 	cash
2 	10 	Lou Angotti 	Chicago Black Hawks 	St. Louis Blues 	claim: Bobby Schmautz
2 	11 	Dean Prentice 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Detroit Red Wings 	cash
2 	12 	Ron Anderson 	St. Louis Blues 	Los Angeles Kings 	cash
3 	13 	Charlie Burns 	Minnesota North Stars	Pittsburgh Penguins	cash
3 	14 	Bob Blackburn 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	New York Rangers 	claim: Forbes Kennedy
3 	15 	Wayne Maki 	St. Louis Blues 	Chicago Black Hawks	cash
4 	16 	Howie Menard 	Chicago Black Hawks 	Los Angeles Kings 	cash
===1970===
The 1970 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 9, 1970. 13 selections were made and 17 players total changed teams.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from 	Compensation
1 	1 	Paul Curtis 	Los Angeles Kings 	Montreal Canadiens 	claim: Bill Inglis
1 	2 	Guy Trottier 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	New York Rangers 	cash
1 	3 	Bill Lesuk 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Boston Bruins 	claim: Dick Cherry
1 	4 	Bob McCord 	Montreal Canadiens 	Minnesota North Stars 	claim: Ted Harris
1 	5 	Gary Croteau 	Oakland Seals 	Detroit Red Wings 	cash
1 	6 	John Gofton 	Minnesota North Stars	Rochester Americans (AHL) 	cash
1 	7 	Lowell MacDonald	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Los Angeles Kings 	claim: Craig Cameron
1 	8 	Steve Atkinson 	St. Louis Blues 	Hershey Bears (AHL) 	cash
1 	9 	Gerry Lemire 	New York Rangers 	St. Louis Blues 	cash
1 	10 	Tom Martin 	Detroit Red Wings 	Phoenix Roadrunners (WHL) 	cash
2 	11 	Paul Andrea 	Oakland Seals 	Vancouver Canucks (WHL) 	cash
2 	12 	Jean-Guy Lagace 	Minnesota North Stars	Pittsburgh Penguins 	cash
2 	13 	Chris Evans 	St. Louis Blues 	Phoenix Roadrunnners (WHL)	cash
===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.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from 	Compensation
1 	1 	Wayne Carleton 	California Golden Seals	Boston Bruins 	cash
1 	2 	Al Smith 	Detroit Red Wings 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	claim: Jim Rutherford
1 	3 	Dennis Kearns 	Vancouver Canucks 	Chicago Black Hawks 	cash
1 	4 	Dave Burrows 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Chicago Black Hawks 	cash
1 	5 	Ray McKay 	Buffalo Sabres 	Chicago Black Hawks 	cash
1 	6 	Gary Edwards 	Los Angeles Kings 	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
1 	7 	Larry Brown 	Philadelphia Flyers 	New York Rangers 	cash
1 	8 	Don Marshall 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
1 	9 	Michel Parizeau	St. Louis Blues 	New York Rangers 	cash
2 	10 	Frank Hughes 	California Golden Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs 	cash
2 	11 	Fred Speck 	Vancouver Canucks 	Detroit Red Wings 	cash
2 	12 	Tim Horton 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	New York Rangers 	cash
2 	13 	Rene Robert 	Buffalo Sabres 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	cash
2 	14 	Frank Spring 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Boston Bruins 	claim: Garry Peters
3 	15 	Stan Gilbertson	California Golden Seals	Boston Bruins 	cash
3 	16 	Rey Comeau 	Vancouver Canucks 	Montreal Canadiens 	cash
3 	17 	Hugh Harris 	Buffalo Sabres 	Montreal Canadiens 	cash
3 	18 	Brian Lavender 	Minnesota North Stars 	Montreal Canadiens 	claim: Bob Murdoch
4 	 	Dick Duff 	Buffalo Sabres 	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
4 	19 	Rene Robert 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
5 	 	Reg Fleming 	Buffalo Sabres 	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
6 	20 	Danny Lawson 	Buffalo Sabres 	Minnesota North Stars	cash
7 	 	Reg Fleming 	Buffalo Sabres 	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
8 	21 	Rod Zaine 	Buffalo Sabres 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	cash
9 	 	Reg Fleming 	Buffalo Sabres 	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
10 	22 	Tom Miller 	Buffalo Sabres 	Detroit Red Wings 	cash
11 	 	Reg Fleming 	Buffalo Sabres 	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
12 	23 	Ken Murray 	Buffalo Sabres 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	cash
13 	 	Reg Fleming 	Buffalo Sabres 	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
===1972===
The 1972 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 5, 1972. Six selections were made and eight players total changed teams.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from 	Compensation
1 	1 	Don Tannahill 	Vancouver Canucks 	Boston Bruins 	cash
1 	2 	Barry Long 	Los Angeles Kings 	Chicago Black Hawks	claim: Bill Orban
1 	3 	Tim Horton 	Buffalo Sabres 	Pittsburgh Penguins	cash
1 	4 	Larry Pleau 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens 	claim: Brad Selwood
2 	5 	Gerry O'Flaherty	Vancouver Canucks 	Toronto Maple Leafs	cash
2 	6 	Doug Volmar 	Los Angeles Kings 	Detroit Red Wings 	cash
===1973===
The 1973 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 12, 1973. Six selections were made and seven players total changed teams.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from 	Compensation
1 	1 	Bert Marshall	New York Islanders 	New York Rangers 	cash
1 	2 	Ray McKay 	California Golden Seals	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
1 	3 	Doug Mohns 	Atlanta Flames 	Minnesota North Stars	claim: Bill Plager
1 	4 	Ron Jones 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Boston Bruins 	cash
1 	5 	Lou Angotti 	St. Louis Blues 	Chicago Black Hawks 	cash
1 	6 	Joe Noris 	Buffalo Sabres 	St. Louis Blues 	cash
===1974===
The 1974 NHL Intra-League Draft was held on June 10, 1974. Five selections were made and six players total changed teams.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from 	Compensation
1 	1 	Jim Neilson 	California Golden Seals	New York Rangers 	claim: Walt McKechnie
1 	2 	Dave Fortier 	New York Islanders 	Philadelphia Flyers	cash
1 	3 	Jim Wiley 	Vancouver Canucks 	Pittsburgh Penguins	cash
1 	4 	Brian Ogilvie	St. Louis Blues 	Chicago Black Hawks	cash
1 	5 	Ron Busniuk 	Detroit Red Wings 	Buffalo Sabres 	cash
===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.
Round	Pick	Player 	Claimed by 	Claimed from 	Compensation
1 	1 	Dale Lewis 	New York Rangers 	Los Angeles Kings	cash
1 	2 	Hartland Monahan	Washington Capitals	New York Rangers 	cash
==References==
==External links==
* Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia
Category:National Hockey League drafts