The NHL Entry Draft has been increasingly targeting college and college-bound players as more and more alumni have found their way into the league over the years.

After World War II, college hockey was seen by most NHL executives as a backwater league for players who weren't good enough to play professionally. College teams were viewed in such a poor light that star junior players like Bill Hay and Red Berenson were told that attending college might prevent NHL teams from giving them a chance.^[1][2] In spite of this reticence, some players were able to reach the NHL in the 1960s though almost all were Canadian-born.

When the NHL instituted its first draft in 1963, this bias against US colleges persisted. Despite most youth players already being under contract, no active collegiate player was selected until 1967. That year, Detroit selected Al Karlander, a forward for Michigan Tech, with the 17th overall selection. He would go on to play parts of four seasons for the Wings.^[3] The following year, John Marks became the first college player selected in the first round when Chicago chose him with the 9th overall selection. These selections coincided with the rapid expansion of the NHL as the league doubled its size in 1967, providing a much greater opportunity for college alumni to play professionally. The NHL continued to expand over the next several years and, with the addition of the WHA, there were 30 major professional teams in 1972 along with their affiliated minor league programs. With the sheer number of available roster spots, the NHL could no longer afford to ignore college hockey and the trends in the NHL Entry Draft demonstrated as much.

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