Maybe only interesting to select few, but the draft eligibility rule changes over the years has altered the draft pools.
mid-80s through 1992?: This was slightly before my time, but there used to be a rule in place where you could only select a first time draft eligible European in the first three rounds unless he played a certain number of games with his senior club.
By age, Nicklas Lidstrom could have been eligible for the 1988 Draft (assuming if he opted in) but would get drafted in 1989. Other guys like Alexander Mogilny and Sergei Fedorov would get taken in their 2nd draft years.
The most infamous loophole with this rule was Pavel Bure. In THN's 1989 Draft Preview, Bob McKenzie notes that Bure was only eligible in the first three rounds. But Vancouver (and apparently a couple other clubs) had obtained Soviet box scores to show that Bure had met the games played threshold to be eligible after the third round. Most teams were under the impression that Bure wasn't eligible, so a bunch of teams rushed to Central Registry to protest the pick when Vancouver took him in the 6th round. Comically one of the teams who objected was intending to take Bure with their next pick.
? through 2003: NCAA bound players had to wait an extra year to opt in to the draft to preserve their "amateur" status. So you'd get cases like Dany Heatley being a full year older than Marian Gaborik. And then there was the rare instance where Rick DiPietro gave up his eligibility in order to enter the 2000 Draft instead of waiting until 2001.
2005-present day: Before 2005, a European player had to be drafted into the league (unless he played in a North American junior league). So you'd see a handful of guys in their mid-late 20s get taken. So guys like Daniel Alfredsson, Pekka Rinne, Lubomir Visnovsky would have been undrafted free agents by today's rules.
Now Europeans are only draft eligible through age 21.
mid-80s through 1992?: This was slightly before my time, but there used to be a rule in place where you could only select a first time draft eligible European in the first three rounds unless he played a certain number of games with his senior club.
By age, Nicklas Lidstrom could have been eligible for the 1988 Draft (assuming if he opted in) but would get drafted in 1989. Other guys like Alexander Mogilny and Sergei Fedorov would get taken in their 2nd draft years.
The most infamous loophole with this rule was Pavel Bure. In THN's 1989 Draft Preview, Bob McKenzie notes that Bure was only eligible in the first three rounds. But Vancouver (and apparently a couple other clubs) had obtained Soviet box scores to show that Bure had met the games played threshold to be eligible after the third round. Most teams were under the impression that Bure wasn't eligible, so a bunch of teams rushed to Central Registry to protest the pick when Vancouver took him in the 6th round. Comically one of the teams who objected was intending to take Bure with their next pick.
? through 2003: NCAA bound players had to wait an extra year to opt in to the draft to preserve their "amateur" status. So you'd get cases like Dany Heatley being a full year older than Marian Gaborik. And then there was the rare instance where Rick DiPietro gave up his eligibility in order to enter the 2000 Draft instead of waiting until 2001.
2005-present day: Before 2005, a European player had to be drafted into the league (unless he played in a North American junior league). So you'd see a handful of guys in their mid-late 20s get taken. So guys like Daniel Alfredsson, Pekka Rinne, Lubomir Visnovsky would have been undrafted free agents by today's rules.
Now Europeans are only draft eligible through age 21.
