The 1990 NHL entry draft was the 28th draft for the National Hockey League. It was hosted by the Vancouver Canucks at BC Place in Vancouver on June 16, 1990. It is remembered as one of the deeper drafts in NHL history, with fourteen of the twenty-one first round picks going on to careers of at least 500 NHL games.
Nine of the twenty-one players drafted in the first round played 1,000 NHL games in their career.
The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Jaromir Jagr, who played his last NHL game in the 2017–18 season. As of 2026, Jagr is still an active player with Rytíři Kladno of the Czech Extraliga.
Venue
The 1990 NHL entry draft was originally scheduled to be held at the Pacific Coliseum, the home arena of the host Vancouver Canucks located on the site of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE). However, the Canadian Union of Public Employees union representing the PNE employees—CUPE Local 1004—threatened to strike June 15, one day before the draft. Consequently, the NHL and the Canucks decided to move the draft to BC Place in order to avoid the potential strike and issues of public access to the venue. In addition to BC Place, the University of British Columbia, the Vancouver Convention Centre and the Hyatt Regency Vancouver were also considered as replacement venues.
The Canucks had estimated that 10,000 spectators would attend the draft, which had free admission. However, holding the venue in a higher capacity venue allowed for that estimate to nearly double, with 19,127 spectators—a then record for attendance at an NHL entry draft—attending the draft.
Top prospects
Heading into the 1990 NHL entry draft, Mike Ricci had spent the entire 1989–90 season ranked as the top prospect by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. Before the release of the final rankings of North American skaters and goaltenders, it was speculated Owen Nolan, Keith Primeau and Petr Nedved would surpass Ricci; however, when the final rankings were released, Ricci remained as the top prospect. Jaromir Jagr was also considered to be one of the top prospects, but Central Scouting did not rank European players. Petr Nedved was an exception to that, as he played in North America after he defected his native Czechoslovakia.