List of NHL first overall draft choices

List of players who were drafted first overall in the NHL Entry Draft.

NHL 1963-69

Year	Player	Position	Amateur Club	Pro Team
1963	Garry Monahan	Forward	Peterborough (OHA)	Montreal Canadiens
1964	Claude Gauthier	Forward [1]	Rosemont Midget	Detroit Red Wings
1965	Andre Veilleux	Forward	Montreal Jr. B	New York Rangers
1966	Bobby Orr	Defenceman	Oshawa (OHL)	Boston Bruins
1967	Rick Pagnutti	Defenceman	Garson (NOHA)	Los Angeles Kings
1968	Michel Plasse	Goaltender	Drummondville (QJHL)	Montreal Canadiens

Prior to 1969, the NHL Draft was a shorter affair. Any amateur player that was 17 years of age and older and was not already sponsored by an NHL club was eligible to be drafted. In 1969 the rules were changed so that any amateur player under the age of 20 was eligible to be drafted. 84 players (more than four times the average in each of the first six drafts) were selected that year.

NHL 1969-present

Year	Player	Position	Amateur Club	Pro Team
1969	Rejean Houle	Forward	Montreal (OHA)	Montreal Canadiens
1970	Gilbert Perreault	Forward	Montreal (OHA)	Buffalo Sabres
1971	Guy Lafleur	Forward	Quebec (QMJHL)	Montreal Canadiens
1972	Billy Harris	Forward	Peterborough (OHA)	New York Islanders
1973	Denis Potvin	Defenceman	Ottawa (OHA)	New York Islanders
1974	Greg Joly	Defenceman	Regina (WCHL)	Washington Capitals
1975	Mel Bridgman	Forward	Victoria (WCHL)	Philadelphia Flyers
1976	Rick Green	Defenceman	London (OHA)	Washington Capitals
1977	Dale McCourt	Forward	Hamilton (OHA)	Detroit Red Wings
1978	Bobby Smith	Forward	Ottawa (OHA)	Minnesota North Stars
1979	Rob Ramage	Defenceman	London (OHA)	Colorado Rockies
1980	Doug Wickenheiser	Forward	Regina (WHL)	Montreal Canadiens
1981	Dale Hawerchuk	Forward	Cornwall (QMJHL)	Winnipeg Jets
1982	Gord Kluzak	Defenceman	Billings (WHL)	Boston Bruins
1983	Brian Lawton	Forward	Mount St. Charles Academy	Minnesota North Stars
1984	Mario Lemieux	Forward	Laval (QMJHL)	Pittsburgh Penguins
1985	Wendel Clark	Forward	Saskatoon (WHL)	Toronto Maple Leafs
1986	Joe Murphy	Forward	Michigan State	Detroit Red Wings
1987	Pierre Turgeon	Forward	Granby (QMJHL)	Buffalo Sabres
1988	Mike Modano	Forward	Prince Albert (WHL)	Minnesota North Stars
1989	Mats Sundin	Forward	Djurgårdens IF	Quebec Nordiques
1990	Owen Nolan	Forward	Cornwall (OHL)	Quebec Nordiques
1991	Eric Lindros	Forward	Oshawa (OHL)	Quebec Nordiques
1992	Roman Hamrlik	Defenceman	HC Zlín	Tampa Bay Lightning
1993	Alexandre Daigle	Forward	Victoriaville (QMJHL)	Ottawa Senators
1994	Ed Jovanovski	Defenceman	Windsor (OHL)	Florida Panthers
1995	Bryan Berard	Defenceman	Detroit (OHL)	Ottawa Senators
1996	Chris Phillips	Defenceman	Prince Albert (WHL)	Ottawa Senators
1997	Joe Thornton	Forward	Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)	Boston Bruins
1998	Vincent Lecavalier	Forward	Rimouski (QMJHL)	Tampa Bay Lightning
1999	Patrik Stefan	Forward	Long Beach (IHL)	Atlanta Thrashers
2000	Rick DiPietro	Goaltender	Boston University	New York Islanders
2001	Ilya Kovalchuk	Forward	Spartak Moscow	Atlanta Thrashers
2002	Rick Nash	Forward	London (OHL)	Columbus Blue Jackets
2003	Marc-Andre Fleury	Goaltender	Cape Breton (QMJHL)	Pittsburgh Penguins
2004	Alexander Ovechkin	Forward	Dynamo Moscow	Washington Capitals
2005	Sidney Crosby	Forward	Rimouski (QMJHL)	Pittsburgh Penguins
2006	Erik Johnson	Defenceman	USNDP	St. Louis Blues
2007	Patrick Kane	Forward	London (OHL)	Chicago Blackhawks