It was created in response to the bidding wars between NHL teams to sign college hockey stars like Adam Oates and Ray Staszak, both of whom signed multi-year contracts with the Detroit Red Wings worth over one million dollars in 1985.
Steve Rucchin played the most regular season games (735) among selections and was a team captain for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
[7] John Cullen scored the most points (550) and was one of two selections to play in the NHL All-Star Game.
The other, Bob Kudelski, is one of eight other selections who enjoyed NHL careers of at least 200 games with Cory Cross, Shawn Chambers, Todd Krygier, Jamie Baker, Steve Martins, Dave Snuggerud, and Steve Guolla rounding out the list.
[8] The eligibility rules for selecting players was as follows:[3][9][10] The first two supplemental drafts featured seven invalid claims, six of them (including Ian Kidd, who would have otherwise been the first ever supplemental draft selection)[11] because the player entered college after age 20.