1966 NHL amateur draft

1966 NHL amateur draft
General information
Date(s)	April 25, 1966
Location	Mount Royal Hotel Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Overview
24 total selections in 4 rounds
First selection	Barry Gibbs (Boston Bruins)
Hall of Famers	1 D Brad Park
← 1965 1967 →

The 1966 NHL amateur draft was the fourth NHL entry draft. It was held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec on the off-day between games one and two of the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals.^[1]

This draft is notable for being the first in which the majority of the players selected (19 of 24 picks) came from top-tier junior teams which would, in the succeeding years, reorganize into Major Junior Hockey in Canada. Perhaps anticipating these changes, and looking to make the draft more competitive in advance of the 1967 NHL expansion, league president Clarence Campbell announced a plan eight months later to restructure rookie contracts and phase out direct sponsorship of junior hockey teams by NHL clubs.