The original World Hockey Association General Player Draft was held on February 12 and 13 of 1972. Although the draft lasted 123 rounds, the first round or preliminary round played the most important role in attempting to secure superstar talent away from the National Hockey League. In that preliminary round, each of the twelve proposed franchises wrote down four players, secret ballot style, and submitted them.

Of those players drafted in the preliminary round, very few would actually play in the WHA. The following players that declined and stayed in the NHL would have changed the course of professional hockey if they’d made the move.

Chicago Black Hawks legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Stan Mikita was selected by the Chicago Cougars. Mikita played 22 seasons with the Black Hawks and ironically finished his NHL career the year the WHA and NHL merged in 1979-80.

In February of 1972, Bobby Clarke was just coming into his own with the Philadelphia Flyers. Two years later, Clarke captained the Flyers to their first of two consecutive Stanley Cup victories. Clarke was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987 and might well have been an Alberta Oiler if the offer was right in 1972.

Ken Dryden already had one Stanley Cup and the Calder Trophy under his belt when he was drafted by the Los Angeles Sharks of the WHA. In what could have been his first season with Los Angeles, Dryden won his second Stanley Cup of six he would win with the Montreal Canadiens. Dryden entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.

Gilbert Perreault was in his second season of his Hall of Fame career with the Buffalo Sabres when the Los Angeles Sharks selected him in the preliminary round. Perreault played seventeen seasons in the NHL, all with the Sabres. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.

With his size, toughness and scoring ability, Peter Mahovlich would have been the leader of the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Mahovlich remained with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens where he was part of four Stanley Cup winning teams. In all, Peter played nearly 900 NHL regular season games with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins. If he had jumped to the WHA, he wouldn’t have been able to play in the historic 1972 Summit Series for Team Canada.

Steve Shutt was drafted by the WHA’s New York Raiders right out of the OHA’s Toronto Marlboros. Shutt chose to take his chances with the powerful Montreal Canadiens and despite the odds, he was playing with the Habs his first season of professional hockey. A 60 goal scorer in 1976-77, Shutt was a part of five Stanley Cup winning teams with Montreal and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.

Already established as one of the NHL’s top defenseman, Brad Park chose to stay with the New York Rangers instead of jumping ship to the WHA’s Ottawa Nationals. Park enjoyed a long NHL career with the Rangers, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings before his induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.

Eddie Shack was nearing the end of his interesting NHL career when the Ottawa Nationals selected him. One has to wonder what Eddie Shack would have become in the WHA. Perhaps, Shack would have finally been able to showcase his offensive talents. Perhaps, Shack would have asked to perform as a circus clown as he had in the NHL for years.

Jacques Lemaire finished his NHL career with his name engraved on the Stanley Cup eight times as a player, all with the Montreal Canadiens. When the Quebec Nordiques selected him in the WHA draft, Lemaire already had three of those Stanley Cups under his belt. Jacques was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984. He won another Stanley Cup in 1995 as the head coach of the New Jersey Devils.

Guy Lapointe won six Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993. Lapointe, like his long time teammate Jacques Lemaire, was selected by the Quebec Nordiques.

What would have happened if even half of these players had joined Bobby Hull, Bernie Parent, Norm Ullman and Derek Sanderson in charting a new course in the WHA? The league certainly would have competed better with the NHL from the beginning. Perhaps, earlier merger plans that the WHA had with the NHL would have gone through and the Houston Aeros and Cincinnati Stingers would have survived and became NHL clubs along with the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets. Or, perhaps, the WHA would still be in existence, living in conjunction with a smaller, weaker NHL.