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1970’s NHL Amateur Draft: How Important Was The 1st Overall Pick?

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1970s nhl amateur draft 1st overall picks

The first overall picks from the 1970’s NHL Amateur Drafts were a pretty impressive bunch. It was the first full decade where the draft actually meant something.

All ten players went on to play anywhere from decent to great careers in the National Hockey League. Three made an immediate impact, winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year. Five played over 1,000 regular season games during their careers. Three are enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

But, were they that much more of a prize than those that were drafted immediately after them? For fun, we take the top four picks from each of the ten drafts in the 1970’s, separate the players into groups by draft position and compare. It’s certainly not scientific. It certainly doesn’t have any affect on today’s highly sophisticated draft process. But, the results are quite interesting.

But first, a video look at those 1st overall picks…

1970’s NHL Amateur Draft: 1st Overall Picks

This is the sixth addition to our newly created YouTube Channel. We’ve been a bit slow out of the gate but the plan is to create three or four of these short hockey history videos each week.

If you like what you see, please give it a ‘Thumb’s Up’ in YouTube. Have a favourite player among those ten top picks? Let us know in the comments. And… we would really appreciate if you’d consider subscribing to the channel!

Comparing 1st Through 4th Picks

Grouping the players into ‘teams’ based on their draft position, we’ve added together their career NHL regular season stats for some interesting numbers.

GroupGamesGoalsAssistsPointsPIM
1st overall91152619480974288375
2nd overall72042324345157757312
3rd overall67671833239542285584
4th overall70582666285455205522

Looking at the first through third spots, things go as expected. The first round picks play more games, score more goals and assist on many more goals for a very large margin in total points. Interestingly, they are also the most penalized.

But, things don’t go as expected when it comes to the group of fourth overall picks. They have more games played, more goals, more assists and more points than the players picked third overall. In fact, they have more goals than the second overall picks.

The biggie comes when comparing the total goals of the fourth overall picks against the first overall selections. It’s a slim margin but team 4th takes the prize as the highest scoring group.

Why? Two players. Mike Gartner and Lanny McDonald account for over 1,200 of the goals. Add into the mix Steve Shutt, Rick MacLeish and Clark Gillies and you have some of the top goal scorers of the era.

Of course, Team 1st was by far the best play makers with nearly 2,000 more assists. If you look below at the breakdown of the ‘teams’, the 2nd overall picks are really a lackluster group, if not for the numbers of Marcel Dionne.

Draft Position ‘Team’ Numbers

Here’s a look at just who made up these groups. Players are listed in order from 1970 to 1979…

1st Overall Picks

PLAYERTEAMGMGAPTSPIM
Gilbert PerreaultBuffalo11915128141326500
Guy LafleurMontreal11275607931353399
Billy HarrisNY Islanders897231327558394
Denis PotvinNY Islanders106031074210521356
Greg JolyWashington365217697250
Mel BridgmanPhiladelphia9772524497011625
Rick GreenWashington84543220263588
Dale McCourtDetroit532194284478124
Bobby SmithMinnesota10773576791036915
Rob RamageColorado10441394255642224

2nd Overall Picks

PLAYERTEAMGMGAPTSPIM
Dale TallonVancouver64298238336568
Marcel DionneDetroit134873110401771600
Jacques RichardAtlanta556160187347307
Tom LysiakAtlanta919292551843569
Wilf PaiementKansas City9463564588141757
Barry DeanKansas City165255681146
Blair ChapmanPittsburgh402106125231158
Barry BeckColorado6151042513551016
Ryan WalterWashington1003264382646946
Perry TurnbullSt. Louis6081881633511245

3rd Overall Picks

PLAYERTEAMGMGAPTSPIM
Reggie LeachBoston934381285666387
Jocelyn GuevremontVancouver57184223307319
Don LeverVancouver1020313367680593
Dennis VervergaertVancouver583176216392247
Rick HamptonCalifornia33759113172147
Ralph KlassenCalifornia4975293145120
Glen SharpleyMinnesota389117161278199
Robert PicardWashington8991043194231025
Wayne BabychSt. Louis519192246438498
Mike FolignoDetroit10183553727272049

4th Overall Picks

PLAYERTEAMGMGAPTSPIM
Rick MacLeishBoston846349410759434
Gene CarrSt. Louis46579136215365
Steve ShuttMontreal930424393817410
Lanny McDonaldToronto11115005061006899
Clark GilliesNY Islanders9583193786971023
Bryan MaxwellMinnesota331187795745
Fred WilliamsDetroit4425710
Jere GillisVancouver3867895173230
Bill DerlagoVancouver555189227416247
Mike GartnerWashington143270862713351159

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