Quick Facts
Date: June 11, 1964
Site: The Queen Elizabeth Hotel
Host City: Montreal
Draft History
The second NHL Amateur Draft had the same rules as the first draft and marked the first time each team used all of its available picks. It also marked the first time that teams began to view their draftees as potential trade bait. This was the case in a trade that ended up sending future Hall of Famer Ken Dryden from Boston to Montreal. Canadiens general manager Sam Pollock, just two months into the job at the time of the 1964 draft, had a strong interest in Dryden and knew Dryden would delay his pro career to attend college. Knowing that Boston also wanted Dryden and not wanting to draft Dryden before the final two rounds, Pollock used his second-round pick on Guy Allen, a player Boston had been hoping to select. When the Bruins took Dryden in the third round, Pollock knew he had the insurance policy of Allen and began working on a deal. He eventually got the Bruins to trade him Dryden and their first-round pick, Alex Campbell, who also planned to play college hockey. In exchange, Pollock gave up Allen and Paul Reid, the Canadiens' third-round pick. Two draft picks were therefore traded for two others less than three weeks after the draft concluded, and it was only possible due to Pollock's gamesmanship on draft day.
The Basics
| Eligible For Draft: | Amateur players not on sponsorship lists prior to May 1, 1964, who were born between Aug. 1, 1947, and July 1, 1948. |
| Draft Order: | Order set by league based on previous year with team that picked No. 1 in 1963 dropping to No. 6 and all others moving up one draft position. |
| Irregularities: | Montreal had option to take first two French-Canadian players before start of draft, but the Canadiens chose not to exercise option and went ahead and used regular first and second-round picks. |
| Total Rounds: | Four |
| Rotation: | Detroit, Boston, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal. |
| Cost to Draft: | Amateur teams were paid $2,000 per drafted player. |
| Draft Rights: | Team could offer player contract on his 18th birthday. |
Draft Recap
| No. 1 pick: | Claude Gauthier (by Detroit) |
| Reached NHL: | Nine players (37.5 percent) |
| Won Stanley Cup: | One player (4.2 percent) |
| Most NHL Games: | Syl Apps Jr. (727 games) |
| Most Playoff Games: | Ken Dryden (112 games) |
| Highest Pick to Miss: | No. 1 (Claude Gauthier) |
| Lowest Pick to Reach: | No. 23 (Jim Dorey) |
| Players Drafted: | 24 (15 forwards, 6 defense, 1 goalie, 2 unknown) |
| SNAPSHOT '64 | |
| Total Selected: | 24 |
| Forwards: | 15 |
| Defense: | 7 |
| Goaltenders: | 1 |
| Position n/a: | 1 |
| Major Junior: | 0 |
| College Players: | 0 |
| Canadian: | 23 |
| American: | 0 |
| Euro-Canadian: | 1 |
| Reached NHL: | 9 |
| Won Stanley Cup: | 1 |
| Hall of Fame: | 1 |
| All-Star Game: | 3 |
| Year-end All-Star: | 1 |
| Olympians: | 0 |
| Picks Traded: | 0 |