When did Toronto and Montreal, no longer get the first five players drafted from Canada each year?

Question

At one time, 95% of the NHL players came from Canada, and most of them came from the eastern provences, so the Canadien teams got to pick the first five players from Canada.

Answer 1

There is no truth whatsoever in your statement

Prior to 1963 (Cyrenaica where are you?) NHL teams owned the rights to ALL players within a 50 mile zone of the rink (Canada wasn't metric until January 1, 1975).

Teams had to make players aware of their status (we want you - we don't want you) so that players could sign with other teams.

In 1963, the NHL had it's first draft of players who had not been signed (or assigned) to teams. The draft order was in reverse of the previous year's standings.

In 1956 the most highly sought after player was a guy by the name of Bobby Hull. He was the best signing in all of the NHL.....by Chicago. He was outside the 50 mile range of all 6 cities so anybody could have him (and yes, Detroit had the rights to players in the Windsor, Ontario region over the Leafs).

And today, the Eastern Provinces still account for the largest number of NHLers

Answer 2

Wow. Where did you get this information? You might want to take it back for a refund.

Prior to 1969, all the NHL teams sponsored or owned several junior teams. The team owned the rights to the players on those teams. The entry draft began in 1963 but the players on the NHL owned teams were not eligible for the draft as they were the property of the NHL team sponsoring them. At no point in time did geography dictate draft position nor award a team 5 picks based on geography. Also prior to 1969, teams were able to carry a future negotiations list of four players between the age of 14 and 18. All teams had this right and an example of this is the case with Bobby Orr and the Bruins. The junior teams had the territorial rights to protect a small number of players but for the most part scouting played a bigger part than geography in obtaining players.