After a story recently about the New York Rangers rebuild, a reader wrote that he had never seen the team get a first overall pick. Considering where the Rangers are in the standings, unless there is a miracle at the lottery, it won’t happen this year. They did get the first overall pick once but it didn’t turn out so well.
In 1965 it was called the NHL Amateur Draft and the rules were very, very different. For the first time, players had to be 18 years old to be eligible, instead of 16. After the NHL teams made their picks, the AHL, WHL and CHL were allowed to select any remaining players.