Which player was the first overall selection in the first NHL Amateur Draft?

Garry Monahan was the first overall selection in the first NHL Amateur Draft, held in 1963.

The Montreal Canadiens selected Monahan with the first pick on June 5, 1963. The draft took place at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal and included 21 selections. Monahan was a center from the St. Michael’s Buzzers organization in Toronto.

The 1963 event was the NHL’s first formal amateur draft. Before then, teams commonly sponsored junior clubs or signed players through territorial and sponsorship systems. The draft introduced a more structured method for distributing young talent among NHL franchises.

Monahan played parts of several NHL seasons with Montreal and later the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings. A frequent confusion is naming a more famous early draft choice, such as Bobby Orr or Gilbert Perreault; neither was selected first in the inaugural draft.