1973 NHL Amateur Draft

73NHLDraftTop3 — The top 3 picks - Tom Lysiak, Denis Potvin, and Dennis Ververgaert.

The 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, the 11th National Hockey League draft was the first to be held on a separate day from other league activities on May 15, 1973, at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal so it would not overshadow the rest of the league meetings. Previously, the league had held the amateur draft in mid-June. It also marks the second time the meeting took place at the Mount Royal Hotel rather than the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. In 1972, when the World Hockey Association was beginning to take form, some teams were more focused on the amateur draft that they stopped paying attention to other issues (mainly the WHA raiding NHL rosters) and were spending their time preparing for the draft.

With the WHA having already operated for a full season, NHL teams realized they would have to fight to sign their top picks. This was especially important in a year when the draft was considered extremely deep and the WHA was scheduled to draft players just three days after the NHL.

The top pick of the 1973 NHL amateur draft was Ottawa 67's star Denis Potvin who was projected to be the next Bobby Orr. The Montreal Canadiens, the most active team on draft day, re-positioned themselves by trading for several high picks and then offered the New York Islanders all types of packages for the first choice overall as they want to select Potvin for themselves. Islanders general manager Bill Torrey was not interested, however and held on to the top pick. He selected Potvin, who became a big part of the building block for the Islanders hockey dynasty between 1980 to 1983

Although the NHL had to compete hard with the WHA to sign these amateur players, they managed to sign all 16 of their first-round draft picks before the rival league could. The NHL-WHA competition was so fierce that the Toronto Maple Leafs offered a staggering, at the time, five-year $600,000 contract for right winger Lanny McDonald of the Medicine Hat Tigers , which kept the No. 4 pick from signing with the WHA's Cleveland Crusaders.

Eligible for the draft were all amateur players born before January 1, 1954 The NHL paid a lump sum to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association to support major junior hockey as a group. Teams could offer a player a contract at any time after the draft without risking then re-entering a future NHL draft.

Selections by round[]

Below are listed the selections in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft.

= NHL All-Star ^[1]

= Hall of Famers

Round one[]

Pick #	Player	Position	NHL team	College/junior/club team
1	Denis Potvin	Defence	New York Islanders	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
2	Tom Lysiak	Centre	Atlanta Flames	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
3	Dennis Ververgaert	Right wing	Vancouver Canucks	London Knights (OHA)
4	Lanny McDonald	Right wing	Toronto Maple Leafs	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
5	John Davidson	Goaltender	St. Louis Blues	Calgary Wranglers (WCHL)
6	Andre Savard	Centre	Boston Bruins	Québec Remparts (QMJHL)
7	Blaine Stoughton	Right wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
8	Bob Gainey	Left wing	Montreal Canadiens	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
9	Bob Dailey	Defence	Vancouver Canucks	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
10	Bob Neely	Defence	Toronto Maple Leafs	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
11	Terry Richardson	Goaltender	Detroit Red Wings	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
12	Morris Titanic	Left wing	Buffalo Sabres	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
13	Darcy Rota	Left wing	Chicago Black Hawks	Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
14	Rick Middleton	Right wing	New York Rangers	Oshawa Generals (OHA)
15	Ian Turnbull	Defence	Toronto Maple Leafs	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
16	Vic Mercredi	Centre	Atlanta Flames	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round two[]

Pick #	Player	Position	NHL team	College/junior/club team
17	Glenn Goldup	Right wing	Montreal Canadiens	Toronto (OHA)
18	Blake Dunlop	Centre	Minnesota North Stars	Ottawa (OHA)
19	Paulin Bordeleau	Right wing	Vancouver Canucks	Toronto (OHA)
20	Larry Goodenough	Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	London (OHA)
21	Eric Vail	Left wing	Atlanta Flames	Sudbury (OHA)
22	Peter Marrin	Centre	Montreal Canadiens	Toronto (OHA)
23	Wayne Bianchin	Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Flin Flon (WCHL)
24	George Pesut	Defence	St. Louis Blues	Saskatoon (WCHL)
25	John Rogers	Right wing	Minnesota North Stars	Edmonton (WCHL)
26	Brent Leavins	Left wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Swift Current (WCHL)
27	Colin Campbell	Defence	Pittsburgh Penguins	Peterborough (OHA)
28	Jean Landry	Defence	Buffalo Sabres	Quebec (QMJHL)
29	Reg Thomas	Left wing	Chicago Black Hawks	London (OHA)
30	Pat Hickey	Left wing	New York Rangers	Hamilton (OHA)
31	Jimmy Jones	Right wing	Boston Bruins	Peterborough (OHA)
32	Ron Andruff	Centre	Montreal Canadiens	Flin Flon (WCHL)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round three[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
33	Dave Lewis	Defence		New York Islanders	Saskatoon (WCHL)
34	Jeff Jacques	Centre		California Golden Seals	St. Catharines (OHA)
35	Paul Sheard	Right wing	United Kingdom	Vancouver Canucks	Ottawa (OHA)
36	Doug Gibson	Centre		Boston Bruins	Peterborough (OHA)
37	Ed Humphreys	Goaltender		Montreal Canadiens	Saskatoon (WCHL)
38	Russ Walker	Right wing		Los Angeles Kings	Saskatoon (WCHL)
39	Nelson Pyatt	Centre		Detroit Red Wings	Oshawa (OHA)
40	Bob Stumpf	Right wing		Philadelphia Flyers	New Westminster (WCHL)
41	Rick Chinnick	Right wing		Minnesota North Stars	Peterborough (OHA)
42	Mike Clarke	Centre		Philadelphia Flyers	Calgary (WCHL)
43	Robbie Neale	Centre		Detroit Red Wings	Brandon (WCHL)
44	Andre Deschamps	Left wing		Buffalo Sabres	Quebec (QMJHL)
45	Randy Holt	Defence		Chicago Black Hawks	Sudbury (OHA)
46	John Campbell	Left wing		New York Rangers	Sault Ste. Marie (OHA)
47	Al Sims	Defence		Boston Bruins	Cornwall (QMJHL)
48	Bob Gassoff	Defence		St. Louis Blues	Medicine Hat (WCHL)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round four[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
49	Andre St. Laurent	Centre		New York Islanders	Montreal (QMJHL)
50	Ron Serafini	Defence	United States	California Golden Seals	St. Catharines (OHA)
51	Keith Mackie	Defence	United Kingdom	Vancouver Canucks	Edmonton (WCHL)
52	Frank Rochon	Left wing		Toronto Maple Leafs	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)
53	Dean Talafous	Centre	United States	Atlanta Flames	Wisconsin (NCAA)
54	Jim McCrimmon	Defence		Los Angeles Kings	Medicine Hat (WCHL)
55	Dennis Owchar	Defence		Pittsburgh Penguins	Toronto (OHA)
56	Alan Hangsleben	Defence	United States	Montreal Canadiens	North Dakota (NCAA)
57	Tom Colley	Centre		Minnesota North Stars	Sudbury (OHA)
58	Dale Cook	Left wing		Philadelphia Flyers	Victoria (WCHL)
59	Mike Korney	Defence		Detroit Red Wings	Winnipeg (WCHL)
60	Yvon Dupuis	Right wing		Buffalo Sabres	Quebec (QMJHL)
61	Dave Elliott	Left wing		Chicago Black Hawks	Winnipeg (WCHL)
62	Brian Molvik	Defence		New York Rangers	Calgary (WCHL)
63	Steve Langdon	Left wing		Boston Bruins	London (OHA)
64	Richard Latulippe	Centre		Montreal Canadiens	Quebec (QMJHL)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round five[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
65	Ron Kennedy	Right wing		New York Islanders	New Westminster (WCHL)
66	Jim Moxey	Right wing		California Golden Seals	Hamilton (OHA)
67	Paul O'Neil	Centre	United States	Vancouver Canucks	Boston University (NCAA)
68	Gord Titcomb	Left wing		Toronto Maple Leafs	St. Catharines (OHA)
69	John Flesch	Left wing		Atlanta Flames	Lake Superior (NCAA)
70	Dennis Abgrall	Right wing		Los Angeles Kings	Saskatoon (WCHL)
71	Guido Tenesi	Defence	United States	Pittsburgh Penguins	Oshawa (OHA)
72	Bill Laing	Centre		St. Louis Blues	Saskatoon (WCHL)
73	Lowell Ostlund	Defence		Minnesota North Stars	Saskatoon (WCHL)
74	Michel Latreille	Defence		Philadelphia Flyers	Montreal (QMJHL)
75	Blair Stewart	Centre		Detroit Red Wings	Winnipeg (WCHL)
76	Bob Smulders	Right wing		Buffalo Sabres	Peterborough (OHA)
77	Dan Hinton	Left wing		Chicago Black Hawks	Sault Ste. Marie (OHA)
78	Pierre Laganiere	Right wing		New York Rangers	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)
79	Peter Crosbie	Goaltender		Boston Bruins	London (OHA)
80	Gerard Gibbons	Defence		Montreal Canadiens	St. Mary's AUAA
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round six[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
81	Keith Smith	Defence		New York Islanders	Brown (NCAA)
82	Willie Trognitz	Left wing		California Golden Seals	Thunder Bay Juniors
83	Jim Cowell	Centre		Vancouver Canucks	Ottawa (OHA)
84	Doug Marit	Defence		Toronto Maple Leafs	Regina (WCHL)
85	Ken Houston	Defence		Atlanta Flames	Chatham SOJHL
86	Blair MacDonald	Right wing		Los Angeles Kings	Cornwall (QMJHL)
87	Don Seiling	Left wing		Pittsburgh Penguins	Oshawa (OHA)
88	Randy Smith	Left wing		St. Louis Blues	Edmonton (WCHL)
89	David Lee	Left wing	United Kingdom	Minnesota North Stars	Ottawa (OHA)
90	Doug Ferguson	Defence		Philadelphia Flyers	Hamilton (OHA)
91	Glenn Cickello	Defence		Detroit Red Wings	Hamilton (OHA)
92	Neil Korzack	Left wing		Buffalo Sabres	Peterborough (OHA)
93	Garry Doerksen	Centre		Chicago Black Hawks	Winnipeg (WCHL)
94	Dwayne Pentland	Defence		New York Rangers	Brandon (WCHL)
95	J.P. Burgoyne	Defence		Boston Bruins	Shawinigan (QMJHL)
96	Denis Patry	Right wing		Montreal Canadiens	Drummondville (QMJHL)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round seven[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
97	Don Cutts	Goaltender		New York Islanders	RPI (NCAA)
98	Paul Tantardini	Left wing		California Golden Seals	Downsview Bombers Ontario Jr. A
99	Clay Hebenton	Goaltender		Vancouver Canucks	Portland WCJHL
100	Dan Follet	Goaltender		Toronto Maple Leafs	Downsview Bombers Ontario Jr. A
101	Tom Machowski	Defence	United States	Atlanta Flames	Wisconsin (NCAA)
102	Roly Kimble	Goaltender		Los Angeles Kings	Hamilton (OHA)
103	Terry Ewasiuk	Left wing		Pittsburgh Penguins	Victoria (WCHL)
104	John Wensink	Left wing		St. Louis Blues	Cornwall (QMJHL)
105	Lou Nistico	Centre		Minnesota North Stars	London (OHA)
106	Tom Young	Defence		Philadelphia Flyers	Sudbury (OHA)
107	Brian Middleton	Defence		Detroit Red Wings	Alberta (NCAA)
108	Bob Young	Defence	United States	Buffalo Sabres	Denver (NCAA)
109	Wayne Dye	Left wing		Chicago Black Hawks	New Westminster (WCHL)
110	Denis Andersen	Defence		New York Islanders	New Westminster (WCHL)
111	Walter Johnson	Right wing	United States	Boston Bruins	Oshawa (OHA)
112	Michel Belisle	Centre		Montreal Canadiens	Montreal (QMJHL)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round eight[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
113	Mike Kennedy	Right wing		New York Islanders	Kitchener (OHA)
114	Bruce Greig	Left wing		California Golden Seals	Vancouver (WCHL)
115	John Senkpiel	Left wing		Vancouver Canucks	Vancouver (WCHL)
116	Les Burgess	Left wing		Toronto Maple Leafs	Kitchener (OHA)
117	Bob Law	Right wing		Atlanta Flames	North Dakota (WCHA)
118	Dennis Polonich	Centre		Detroit Red Wings	Flin Flon (WCHL)
119	Fred Comrie	Centre		Pittsburgh Penguins	Edmonton (WCHL)
120	Jean Tetreault	Left wing		St. Louis Blues	Drummondville (QMJHL)
121	George Beveridge	Defence		Minnesota North Stars	Kitchener (OHA)
122	Norm Barnes	Defence		Philadelphia Flyers	Michigan State (NCAA)
123	George Lyle	Left wing		Detroit Red Wings	Michigan Tech (NCAA)
124	Tim O'Connell	Right wing	United States	Buffalo Sabres	Vermont (NCAA)
125	Jim Koleff	Centre		Chicago Black Hawks	Hamilton (OHA)
126	Denis Desgagnes	Centre		New York Islanders	Sorel (QMJHL)
127	Virgil Gates	Defence		Boston Bruins	Swift Current (WCHL)
128	Mario Desjardins	Left wing		Montreal Canadiens	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round nine[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
129	Bob Lorimer	Defence		New York Islanders	Michigan Tech (NCAA)
130	Larry Patey	Centre		California Golden Seals	Braintree NEJHL
131	Peter Folco	Defence		Vancouver Canucks	Quebec (QMJHL)
132	Dave Pay	Left wing		Toronto Maple Leafs	Wisconsin (NCAA)
133	Bob Bilodeau	Defence		Atlanta Flames	New Westminster (WCHL)
134	Gord Lane	Defence		Pittsburgh Penguins	New Westminster (WCHL)
135	Dennis O'Brien	Defence		Detroit Red Wings	Laurentian CIAU
136	Jim Johnston	Centre		Minnesota North Stars	Peterborough (OHA)
137	Dan O'Donohue	Defence		Philadelphia Flyers	Sault Ste. Marie (OHA)
138	Tom Newman	Defence		Detroit Red Wings	Kitchener (OHA)
139	Ray Bibeau	Defence		Detroit Red Wings	Montreal (QMJHL)
140	Jack Johnson	Defence	United States	Chicago Black Hawks	Wisconsin (NCAA)
141	Steve Alley	Left wing	United States	Chicago Black Hawks	Wisconsin (NCAA)
142	Jim Pettie	Goaltender		Boston Bruins	St. Catharines (OHA)
143	Bob Wright	Right wing		Montreal Canadiens	Pembroke Lumber Kings CJAHL
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round ten[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
144	Lee Palmer	Defence		Toronto Maple Leafs	Clarkson (NCAA)
145	Doug Mahood	Right wing		California Golden Seals	Sault Ste. Marie (OHA)
146	Terry McDougall	Centre		Vancouver Canucks	Swift Current (WCHL)
147	Bob Peace	Centre		Toronto Maple Leafs	Cornell (NCAA)
148	Glen Surbey	Defence		Atlanta Flames	Loyola College (NCAA)
149	Guy Ross	Defence		Atlanta Flames	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)
150	Randy Aimoe	Defence		Pittsburgh Penguins	Medicine Hat (WCHL)
151	Kevin Neville	Goaltender		Detroit Red Wings	Toronto (OHA)
152	Sam Clegg	Goaltender		Minnesota North Stars	Medicine Hat (WCHL)
153	Brian Dick	Right wing		Philadelphia Flyers	Winnipeg (WCHL)
154	Ken Gibb	Defence		Detroit Red Wings	North Dakota (NCAA)
155	Mitch Brandt	Defence	United States	Detroit Red Wings	Denver (NCAA)
156	Rick Clubbe	Centre		Chicago Black Hawks	North Dakota (NCAA)
157	Yvan Bouillon	Centre		Boston Bruins	Cornwall (QMJHL)
158	Alain Labrecque	Centre		Montreal Canadiens	Trois-Rivieres (QMJHL)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round eleven[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
159	Norm McLeod	Left wing		Toronto Maple Leafs	Ottawa (OHA Jr. A)
160	Angie Moretto	Centre		California Golden Seals	Michigan (NCAA)
161	Russ Wiechnik	Centre		Minnesota North Stars	Calgary (WCHL)
162	Greg Fox	Defence		Atlanta Flames	Michigan (WCHA)
163	Max Hansen	Left wing	United States	Minnesota North Stars	Sudbury (OHA)
164	Don McLeod	Centre		Pittsburgh Penguins	Saskatoon (WCHL)
165	Gene Strate	Defence		Chicago Black Hawks	Edmonton (WCHL)
166	Gord Halliday	Right wing		Montreal Canadiens	Pennsylvania (ECAC)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round twelve[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
167	Cap Raeder	Goaltender	United States	Montreal Canadiens	New Hampshire (NCAA)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}

Round thirteen[]

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
168	Louis Chiasson	Centre		Montreal Canadiens	Trois-Rivieres (QMJHL)
^{Reference: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.}