So, you want to play in the NHL eh?  If you grew up in Canada (and arguably other countries around the world) it’s the dream of any child who has ever picked up a hockey stick and shot a puck.  I mean who doesn’t dream of hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup over their head?  While hockey is a global game today, we can debate where it was started, but hockey is Canada’s game (sorry lacrosse fans). Many little Canadian hockey players dream of making it to the NHL, and a select few will, but in general it is a longshot for most.

The National Hockey League (NHL) started with the 1917-18 season after the league assumed three of the six teams from the National Hockey Association (NHA) which existed from 1910 through to 1917.  Three of those NHA teams, the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers and Ottawa Senators formed the first NHL along with the Toronto Hockey Club.  All four teams in the NHL’s first season were Canadian-based teams.  The first US-based team that joined the NHL were the Boston Bruins when they joined in the 1924-25 NHL season.

Back in the “early days” and during times of the Original Six era, the NHL did not have a draft.  Instead NHL teams either owned junior/semi-pro teams or had “agreements” or what were referred to as “sponsorships” with these teams that allowed them access to younger players.  Players were claimed by NHL teams based on the junior teams played for.  It wasn’t until 1963 when the National Hockey League held a draft (then known as the amateur draft) that teams could actually draft players.  The first NHL Amateur Draft was held in Montreal, Quebec in June 1963. The Amateur Draft was put in place in 1963 in order to break the existing NHL teams’ monopoly on junior players, which they had gained by the NHL Sponsorship System. (More on the NHL Draft History). 

• The NHL Amateur Draft existed from 1963 through to 1978
• In 1978, the NHL renamed the draft to the NHL Entry Draft
• From 1986 through to 1994 the NHL conducted a Supplemental Draft, a secondary draft that allowed the NHL to select undrafted college players who were at least 21 years old that may have been missed in previous Entry Drafts.
• The NHL also conducts Expansion Drafts any time a new franchise enters the league.
• The NHL also conducted Intraleague Drafts whereby NHL teams could select players from each other (although there were protected lists).  The last Intraleague draft occurred in 1975.

Related: All-Time Draft Picks of Every NHL Team

How many players have ever played in the NHL?

For all of the hockey parents out there. Let this one sink in for you.  There have only ever been around 7,900 players who have ever played a game in the NHL.  This is a fact.  Back in 2017, when the NHL celebrated their 100^th anniversary, nhl.com updated their database to include game-by-game statistics for each of the 7,623 players who have competed in the NHL since 1917.  Let’s be very clear on this since 1917 up to 2017 there were 7,623 players who have played in the National Hockey League.  In the five seasons since then, of the 1,100 players drafted into the NHL another 233 have played at least one NHL game.  This brings the total to 7,826 players to have played in the NHL since 1917.  That’s it, less than eight thousand players who have EVER played in the NHL.  It makes me chuckle a little because I probably know eight thousand families here in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia that think their child is going to play in the NHL at some point.

So, you want to play in the NHL?

As mentioned, anyone who has ever played ice hockey has had thoughts of how awesome it would be to play in the NHL.  Here are some stats that might make you think twice about this career path (hockey parents I’m looking at you):

Number of Players Drafted to the NHL by Year

Here is a breakdown of players drafted into the NHL through 2023. (Note: The 2023 NHL Entry Draft is scheduled for June 2023).

Year	# of Players Drafted	# of Drafted Players that Played in the NHL	%	Avg NHL Career Games	Avg NHL Career Points
1963	21	5	23.81%	772	483
1964	24	9	37.50%	288	136
1965	11	2	18.18%	327	62
1966	24	14	58.33%	474	239
1967	18	3	16.67%	313	162
1968	24	9	37.50%	287	86
1969	84	49	58.33%	309	151
1970	115	62	53.91%	308	155
1971	117	50	42.74%	341	217
1972	151	67	44.37%	330	164
1973	168	70	41.67%	322	174
1974	247	98	39.68%	311	171
1975	217	86	39.63%	264	124
1976	135	73	54.07%	274	152
1977	185	97	52.43%	264	133
1978	234	95	40.60%	334	168
1979	126	103	81.75%	479	286
1980	210	132	62.86%	363	197
1981	210	114	54.29%	310	141
1982	252	109	43.25%	374	185
1983	242	113	46.69%	392	191
1984	250	102	40.80%	443	224
1985	252	104	41.27%	333	127
1986	252	109	43.25%	280	118
1987	252	90	35.71%	382	166
1988	252	95	37.70%	374	192
1989	252	113	44.84%	344	147
1990	252	98	38.89%	437	200
1991	264	113	42.80%	372	172
1992	264	125	47.35%	304	112
1993	286	131	45.80%	359	155
1994	286	115	40.21%	384	137
1995	234	112	47.86%	302	111
1996	241	99	41.08%	372	123
1997	246	101	41.06%	315	129
1998	258	132	51.16%	317	129
1999	272	112	41.18%	250	94
2000	293	118	40.27%	287	97
2001	289	126	43.60%	317	121
2002	291	104	35.74%	330	120
2003	292	130	44.52%	394	171
2004	291	128	43.99%	305	126
2005	230	111	48.26%	324	126
2006	213	91	42.72%	351	154
2007	211	97	45.97%	337	149
2008	211	107	50.71%	322	131
2009	211	116	54.98%	326	137
2010	210	107	50.95%	305	131
2011	211	126	59.72%	266	118
2012	211	108	51.18%	288	101
2013	211	106	50.24%	245	110
2014	210	101	48.10%	214	105
2015	211	109	51.66%	209	103
2016	211	111	52.61%	133	60
2017	217	101	46.54%	109	46
2018	217	85	39.17%	83	34
2019	217	75	34.56%	54	23
2020	217	50	23.04%	46	21
2021	224	18	8.04%	44	20
2022	225	5	2.22%	11	2

The 2023 NHL Entry Draft will be the 61st NHL Entry Draft. The draft will be held on June 28–29, 2023, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The Chicago Blackhawks have the top selection this season and are expected to draft WHL phenom Connor Bedard with the first overall pick.

Related: Connor Bedard’s Top Ten WHL Games

Making the NHL is difficult at best.  Odds are less than one percent.  In a number of cases having an NHL pedigree in your family can help get you there.  Looking at the past thirty years, the 2011 NHL draft class saw the largest percentage of drafted players play in the NHL with nearly 60% of drafted players playing at least one regular season game in the NHL (remember the average is closer to 43%).  While you can never give up on your dreams of playing in the NHL, players and parents should be realistic about the odds of getting drafted and playing in the National Hockey League.  Until then keep practicing and keep playing!

Resources:

NHL.com

https://www.hockeydb.com/