NHL supplemental draft

{{Short description|Defunct sport event}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}

The NHL supplemental draft was a draft that was established by the National Hockey League as an offshoot of the NHL entry draft between 1986 and 1994.{{Cite news|url=https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/bring-back-the-nhl-supplemental-draft.2182715/|title=Bring back the NHL Supplemental Draft?|work=HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League|access-date=2018-11-04|language=en-US}} The Supplemental Draft was used by teams to select collegiate ice hockey players who were not eligible for the standard entry draft. It was created in response to the bidding wars between NHL teams to sign college hockey stars like Adam Oates and Ray Staszak, both of whom signed multi-year contracts with the Detroit Red Wings worth over one million dollars in 1985.{{cite web |last1=Falla |first1=Jack |title=GO FOR THE DOUGH, BOYS |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1985/10/14/go-for-the-dough-boys |publisher=Sports Illustrated |date=October 14, 1985 |access-date=7 December 2021}} The first draft was held on September 17, 1986, a month after the NHL Players' Association approved a new contract with the league allowing the owners to hold a two-round supplemental draft before the entry draft.{{cite web |title=Three players each from the University of Denver and... |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/09/18/Three-players-each-from-the-University-of-Denver-and/2519527400000/ |publisher=UPI |date=September 18, 1986 |access-date=6 December 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Babad |first1=Michael |title=The NHL union Tuesday said players approved by a... |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/08/12/The-NHL-union-Tuesday-said-players-approved-by-a/8246524203200/ |publisher=UPI |date=August 12, 1986 |access-date=7 December 2021}} In 1992, the supplemental draft was scaled back to a single round and limited to non-playoff teams from the previous season and first-year expansion teams.{{cite web |last1=Springer |first1=Steve |title=Players Stage First NHL Strike : Hockey |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-02-sp-297-story.html |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=April 2, 1992 |access-date=7 December 2021}} The supplemental draft was discontinued by the 1995 collective bargaining agreement.{{cite news |title=Text of final contract offer from NHL to players’ union |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/424280444/ |access-date=7 December 2021 |publisher=Montreal Gazette |date=January 12, 1995 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Unlike the Entry Draft, most players selected never played in the NHL, although a few "diamonds in the rough" went on to NHL careers. Steve Rucchin played the most regular season games (735) among selections and was a team captain for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.{{cite web |title=Rucchin named captain of Mighty Ducks |url=http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=53255 |website=TSN.ca |access-date=January 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031220125037/http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=53255 |archive-date=December 20, 2003 |date=September 8, 2003}} John Cullen scored the most points (550) and was one of two selections to play in the NHL All-Star Game. The other, Bob Kudelski, is one of eight other selections who enjoyed NHL careers of at least 200 games with Cory Cross, Shawn Chambers, Todd Krygier, Jamie Baker, Steve Martins, Dave Snuggerud, and Steve Guolla rounding out the list.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/index.html|title=NHL and WHA Draft History at Hockeydb.com|website=www.hockeydb.com|language=en|access-date=2018-11-04}}