1966_NHL_Amateur_Draft
1966 NHL amateur draft
4th annual meeting of National Hockey League franchises to select newly eligible players
The 1966 NHL Amateur Draft was the fourth NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec on the off-day between games one and two of the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals.[1]
This Draft is notable for being the first in which the majority of the players selected (19 of 24 picks) came from top-tier Junior teams which would, in the succeeding years, reorganize into Major Junior Hockey in Canada. Perhaps anticipating these changes, and looking to make the Draft more competitive in advance of the 1967 NHL Expansion, league President Clarence Campbell announced a plan eight months later to restructure rookie contracts and phase out direct sponsorship of junior hockey teams by NHL clubs