1973 NHL Amateur Draft

1973 NHL Amateur Draft
General information
Date(s)	May 15, 1973
Location	Montreal, Quebec
First selection	Denis Potvin ; Selected by: New York Islanders
	NHL Amateur Draft

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, Quebec 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 and 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 re-entry in a future NHL draft.

Selections by round

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

= NHL All-Star^[1]

= NHL All-Star^[1] and NHL All-Star Team

= Hall of Famers

Round one

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

Round two

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
17	Glenn Goldup	Right Wing	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
18	Blake Dunlop	Centre	Canada	Minnesota North Stars	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
19	Paulin Bordeleau	Right Wing	Canada	Vancouver Canucks	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
20	Larry Goodenough	Defence	Canada	Philadelphia Flyers	London Knights (OHA)
21	Eric Vail	Left Wing	Canada	Atlanta Flames	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
22	Peter Marrin	Centre	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
23	Wayne Bianchin	Left Wing	Canada	Pittsburgh Penguins	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
24	George Pesut	Defence	Canada	St. Louis Blues	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
25	John Rogers	Right Wing	Canada	Minnesota North Stars	Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
26	Brent Leavins	Left Wing	Canada	Philadelphia Flyers	Swift Current Broncos (WCHL)
27	Colin Campbell	Defence	Canada	Pittsburgh Penguins	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
28	Jean Landry	Defence	Canada	Buffalo Sabres	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
29	Reg Thomas	Left Wing	Canada	Chicago Black Hawks	London Knights (OHA)
30	Pat Hickey	Left Wing	Canada	New York Rangers	Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
31	Jimmy Jones	Right Wing	Canada	Boston Bruins	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
32	Ron Andruff	Centre	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
^{Reference: "1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com". Retrieved 18 December 2008.}

Round three

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
33	Dave Lewis	Defence	Canada	New York Islanders	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
34	Jeff Jacques	Centre	Canada	California Golden Seals	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
35	Paul Sheard	Right Wing	United Kingdom Canada	Vancouver Canucks	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
36	Doug Gibson	Centre	Canada	Boston Bruins	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
37	Ed Humphreys	Goaltender	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
38	Russ Walker	Right Wing	Canada	Los Angeles Kings	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
39	Nelson Pyatt	Centre	Canada	Detroit Red Wings	Oshawa Generals (OHA)
40	Bob Stumpf	Right Wing	Canada	Philadelphia Flyers	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
41	Rick Chinnick	Right Wing	Canada	Minnesota North Stars	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
42	Mike Clarke	Centre	Canada	Philadelphia Flyers	Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
43	Robbie Neale	Centre	Canada	Detroit Red Wings	Brandon Wheat Kings(WCHL)
44	Andre Deschamps	Left Wing	Canada	Buffalo Sabres	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
45	Randy Holt	Defence	Canada	Chicago Black Hawks	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
46	John Campbell	Left Wing	Canada	New York Rangers	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA)
47	Al Sims	Defence	Canada	Boston Bruins	Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
48	Bob Gassoff	Defence	Canada	St. Louis Blues	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
^{Reference: "1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com". Retrieved 18 December 2008.}

Round four

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

Round five

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

Round six

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
81	Keith Smith	Defence	Canada	New York Islanders	Brown University (ECAC)
82	Willie Trognitz	Left Wing	Canada	California Golden Seals	Thunder Bay Vulcans (TBJHL)
83	Jim Cowell	Centre	Canada	Vancouver Canucks	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
84	Doug Marit	Defence	Canada	Toronto Maple Leafs	Regina Pats (WCHL)
85	Ken Houston	Defence	Canada	Atlanta Flames	Chatham Maroons SOJHL
86	Blair MacDonald	Right Wing	Canada	Los Angeles Kings	Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
87	Don Seiling	Left Wing	Canada	Pittsburgh Penguins	Oshawa Generals (OHA)
88	Randy Smith	Left Wing	Canada	St. Louis Blues	Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
89	David Lee	Left Wing	United Kingdom Canada	Minnesota North Stars	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
90	Doug Ferguson	Defence	Canada	Philadelphia Flyers	Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
91	Glen Cickello	Defence	Canada	Detroit Red Wings	Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
92	Neil Korzack	Left Wing	Canada	Buffalo Sabres	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
93	Garry Doerksen	Centre	Canada	Chicago Black Hawks	Winnipeg Jets (WCHL)
94	Dwayne Pentland	Defence	Canada	New York Rangers	Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
95	Jean-Pierre Burgoyne	Defence	Canada	Boston Bruins	Shawinigan Dynamos (QMJHL)
96	Denis Patry	Right Wing	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL)
^{Reference: "1973 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com". Retrieved 18 December 2008.}

Round seven

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

Round eight

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

Round nine

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

Round ten

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

Round eleven

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

Round twelve

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

Round thirteen

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