Thursday, July 15, 2021

NCAA Readies for Historic NHL Draft

As many as five of the top 10 picks could be college players.

NCAA Readies for Historic NHL Draft
Michigan’s Owen Power is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft (Photo by Michigan Photography).

The 2021 NHL Draft projects to be a historic one for NCAA hockey. We could see:

  • An NCAA player selected No. 1 overall for just the fourth time (also 2006, 2000, 1986)
  • NCAA players going 1-2 for just the second time (also 2000)
  • As many as five NCAA players and recruits taken among the top 10 picks for the first time
  • One team with three current players taken in the first round for the first time
  • One team with five players or recruits taken in the first round for the first time
  • Three Canadian NCAA players and recruits selected in the first round for the second time (also 2016)
  • A Canadian NCAA player or recruit taken in the first round for the sixth straight draft

NCAA / NHL Draft Guide (.pdf)

All-Time First-Round Draft Picks | NCAA in NHL Central Scouting Rankings

NHL DRAFT BY THE NUMBERS

189 – NCAA players selected by the Montreal Canadiens in NHL Amateur/Entry Drafts, the most of any franchise

173 – NCAA players drafted in the first round since 1964 (St. Lawrence’s Alex Campbell was the first)

125 – NCAA players taken in the 1987 Entry Draft, the most in any one draft

102 – NCAA players and recruits in NHL Central Scouting’s Final Rankings

87.5 – Percentage of Americans taken in the last three drafts (2018, ’19, ’20) that played NCAA hockey

70 – NCAA players and recruits selected in the 2019 NHL Draft, the most in 12 years

31 – Schools represented (of the 60 in Division I) in the Central Scouting rankings

27 – Schools that have produced a first-round pick all-time (18 in the last 13 drafts)

25 – Consecutive years with a draft pick for Boston College and Michigan (starting in 1996), tied for the second-longest such streak for any school in history (Minnesota had picks in 27 straight drafts, 1974-2000)

25 – First-round picks to play for Michigan, the most of any school

First-Round Picks by School
25 – Michigan
21 – Boston College, Minnesota
20 – Boston University, North Dakota

17 – Age of Vermont’s Dovar Tinling for all but one game this year; the youngest player in Division I, he turned 18 on March 3

17 – The most NCAA selections in any one round of a draft (fourth round in 2018, sixth round in 2015, ninth round in 2004)

12 – First rounders who played NCAA hockey in 2020-21

11 – College players taken in the first round in 2016 and 2007, the most first-rounders in any draft

10 – First round picks from Boston University in the last six NHL Drafts

9 – The most picks from one school in one draft (Minnesota, 2007)

7 – NCAA picks among the first 16 selections of the 2019 NHL Draft, the most ever

6 – The most first-round picks to play for one NCAA team (North Dakota, 2005-06; Joe Finley, Brian Lee, T.J. Oshie, Drew Stafford, Jonathan Toews, Travis Zajac)

4 – The most top-10 picks in one draft to play NCAA hockey (2006: Erik Johnson, Jonathan Toews, Phil Kessel and Kyle Okposo)

1 – Joe Murphy (1986), Rick DiPietro (2000) and Erik Johnson (2006) are the three NCAA players to be selected first overall in the NHL Draft