1981 NHL Entry Draft

Montreal, Quebec - June 10, 1981

Summary statistics

			POSITION SPLIT			NATIONALITY SPLIT
ROUND	TO NHL	GP	FWD	DEF	GOA..
Round 1	85.71%	649.3	42.9%	52.4%	4.8%	85.7%	4.8%	4.8%	0.0%	0.0%	4.8%
Round 2	76.19%	265.5	61.9%	28.6%	9.5%	57.1%	19.0%	14.3%	0.0%	9.5%	0.0%
Round 3	85.71%	135.8	57.1%	33.3%	9.5%	76.2%	0.0%	4.8%	0.0%	4.8%	14.3%
Round 4	57.14%	83.3	76.2%	4.8%	19.0%	66.7%	14.3%	14.3%	0.0%	0.0%	4.8%
Round 5	38.10%	43.6	61.9%	19.0%	19.0%	76.2%	14.3%	0.0%	0.0%	4.8%	4.8%
Round 6	42.86%	207.6	47.6%	42.9%	9.5%	66.7%	28.6%	4.8%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Round 7	38.10%	63.9	42.9%	47.6%	9.5%	47.6%	19.0%	14.3%	0.0%	14.3%	4.8%
Round 8	42.86%	124.0	61.9%	38.1%	0.0%	52.4%	19.0%	4.8%	0.0%	19.0%	4.8%
Round 9	33.33%	32.5	47.6%	33.3%	19.0%	52.4%	42.9%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	4.8%
Round 10	42.86%	75.0	66.7%	14.3%	19.0%	71.4%	9.5%	4.8%	0.0%	4.8%	9.5%
Round 11	0.00%	0.0	0.0%	100.0%	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
TOTAL¹		167.2	56.4%	31.8%	11.8%	64.9%	17.5%	6.6%	0.0%	5.7%	5.2%
TO NHL²	54.03%		53.8%	55.2%	52.0%	62.0%	37.8%	35.7%	0.0%	41.7%	45.5%

¹⁾ Percentage of drafted players in each category (e.g. 64.9% of all drafted players were Canadian).
²⁾ Percentage of players that made it to NHL (e.g. 62.0% of all drafted Canadians have played in NHL).

Summary statistics on team draft performance

					OVERALL				PER DRAFT PICK
Rk	TEAM	WAPP¹	PICKS	TO NHL	GP	G	A	P	GP	G	A	P
1	Winnipeg Jets	9.68	11	45.5%	1979	667	1083	1750	179.9	60.6	98.5	159.1
2	Los Angeles Kings	15.60	9	55.6%	1323	142	251	393	147.0	15.8	27.9	43.7
3	Washington Capitals	23.43	10	80.0%	2626	550	736	1286	262.6	55.0	73.6	128.6
4	Hartford Whalers	27.52	9	55.6%	2530	669	1421	2090	281.1	74.3	157.9	232.2
5	Colorado Rockies	31.18	10	60.0%	2107	225	713	938	210.7	22.5	71.3	93.8
6	Toronto Maple Leafs	33.04	9	44.4%	648	54	197	251	72.0	6.0	21.9	27.9
7	Montreal Canadiens	33.88	13	46.2%	3799	594	1426	2020	292.2	45.7	109.7	155.4
8	Edmonton Oilers	41.00	9	77.8%	2215	163	483	646	246.1	18.1	53.7	71.8
9	New York Rangers	43.25	10	50.0%	3066	268	768	1036	306.6	26.8	76.8	103.6
10	Minnesota North Stars	46.56	14	50.0%	672	107	131	238	48.0	7.6	9.4	17.0
11	Quebec Nordiques	50.20	8	75.0%	2175	123	322	445	271.9	15.4	40.3	55.6
12	Chicago Black Hawks	50.45	10	30.0%	702	287	273	560	70.2	28.7	27.3	56.0
13	Vancouver Canucks	51.28	9	88.9%	2241	327	507	834	249.0	36.3	56.3	92.7
14	Boston Bruins	57.93	9	55.6%	410	48	65	113	45.6	5.3	7.2	12.6
15	Philadelphia Flyers	63.37	13	38.5%	160	26	50	76	12.3	2.0	3.8	5.8
16	Calgary Flames	64.56	9	44.4%	2364	360	1022	1382	262.7	40.0	113.6	153.6
17	Buffalo Sabres	64.95	12	33.3%	345	43	127	170	28.8	3.6	10.6	14.2
18	St. Louis Blues	66.93	9	33.3%	729	32	58	90	81.0	3.6	6.4	10.0
19	New York Islanders	69.56	11	36.4%	856	48	181	229	77.8	4.4	16.5	20.8
20	Detroit Red Wings	70.91	8	87.5%	2622	345	619	964	327.8	43.1	77.4	120.5
21	Pittsburgh Penguins	79.41	9	77.8%	1720	183	326	509	191.1	20.3	36.2	56.6

¹⁾ The Weighted Average Pick Position (WAPP) is determined using a harmonic mean, which gives the highest weight to the first overall pick, the second highest to the second overall pick, etc. The thinking behind this approach is that the relative difference between the first and the fifth pick is much higher than the difference between e.g. the 130th and 135th pick. The smallest number is granted to the team with the lowest overall pick position in the draft.

Round 1

No.	Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
1	Dale Hawerchuk	1963	Winnipeg Jets	F	1188	518	891	1409	740	-98
2	Doug Smith	1963	Los Angeles Kings	F	535	115	138	253	624	-130
3	Bobby Carpenter	1963	Washington Capitals	F	1178	320	408	728	919	-82
4	Ron Francis	1963	Hartford Whalers	F	1731	549	1249	1798	977	-18
5	Joe Cirella	1963	Colorado Rockies	D	828	64	211	275	1446	-200
6	Jim Benning	1963	Toronto Maple Leafs	D	605	52	191	243	461	-77
7	Mark Hunter	1962	Montreal Canadiens	F	628	213	171	384	1426	-16
8	Grant Fuhr	1962	Edmonton Oilers	G	868	0	47	47	120
9	James Patrick	1963	New York Rangers	D	1280	149	490	639	759	100
10	Garth Butcher	1963	Vancouver Canucks	D	897	48	158	206	2302	-121
11	Randy Moller	1963	Quebec Nordiques	D	815	45	180	225	1692	47
12	Tony Tanti	1963	Chicago Black Hawks	F	697	287	273	560	661	-69
13	Ron Meighan	1963	Minnesota North Stars	D	48	3	7	10	18	-11
14	Normand Leveille	1963	Boston Bruins	F	75	17	25	42	49	15
15	Al MacInnis	1963	Calgary Flames	D	1416	340	934	1274	1511	371
16	Steve Smith	1963	Philadelphia Flyers	D	17	0	1	1	15	0
17	Jiri Dudacek	1962	Buffalo Sabres	F
18	Gilbert Delorme	1962	Montreal Canadiens	D	541	31	92	123	520	40
19	Jan Ingman	1961	Montreal Canadiens	F
20	Marty Ruff	1963	St. Louis Blues	D
21	Paul Boutilier	1963	New York Islanders	D	288	27	83	110	358	1

Round 2

No.	Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
22	Scott Arniel	1962	Winnipeg Jets	F	730	149	189	338	599	-11
23	Claude Loiselle	1963	Detroit Red Wings	F	616	92	117	209	1149	-128
24	Gary Yaremchuk	1961	Toronto Maple Leafs	F	34	1	4	5	28	-18
25	Kevin Griffin	1963	Chicago Black Hawks	F
26	Rich Chernomaz	1963	Colorado Rockies	F	51	9	7	16	18	-23
27	Dave Donnelly	1962	Minnesota North Stars	F	137	15	24	39	150	8
28	Steve Gatzos	1961	Pittsburgh Penguins	F	89	15	20	35	83	-31
29	Todd Strueby	1963	Edmonton Oilers	F	5	0	1	1	2	0
30	Jan Erixon	1962	New York Rangers	F	556	57	159	216	167	34
31	Mike Sands	1963	Minnesota North Stars	G	6	0	0	0	2
32	Lars Eriksson	1961	Montreal Canadiens	G
33	Tom Hirsch	1963	Minnesota North Stars	D	31	1	7	8	30	-15
34	Dave Preuss	1963	Minnesota North Stars	F
35	Luc Dufour	1963	Boston Bruins	F	167	23	21	44	199	10
36	Håkan Nordin	1961	St. Louis Blues	D
37	Rich Costello	1963	Philadelphia Flyers	F	12	2	2	4	2	-6
38	Hannu Virta	1963	Buffalo Sabres	D	245	25	101	126	66	16
39	Dean Kennedy	1963	Los Angeles Kings	D	717	26	110	136	1118	-55
40	Chris Chelios	1962	Montreal Canadiens	D	1651	185	763	948	2891	351
41	Jali Wahlsten	1963	Minnesota North Stars	F
42	Gord Dineen	1962	New York Islanders	D	528	16	90	106	697	-60

Round 3

No.	Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
43	Jyrki Seppä	1961	Winnipeg Jets	D	13	0	2	2	6	-9
44	Corrado Micalef	1961	Detroit Red Wings	G	113	0	5	5	43
45	Eric Calder	1963	Washington Capitals	D	2	0	0	0	0	0
46	Dieter Hegen	1962	Montreal Canadiens	F
47	Barry Tabobondung	1961	Philadelphia Flyers	D
48	Uli Hiemer	1962	Colorado Rockies	D	143	19	54	73	176	-19
49	Tom Thornbury	1963	Pittsburgh Penguins	D	14	1	8	9	16	-19
50	Peter Sundström	1961	New York Rangers	F	338	61	83	144	122	-24
51	Mark Morrison	1963	New York Rangers	F	10	1	1	2	0	-5
52	Jean-Marc Lanthier	1963	Vancouver Canucks	F	105	16	16	32	29	-36
53	Jean-Marc Gaulin	1962	Quebec Nordiques	F	26	4	3	7	8	0
54	Darrel Anholt	1962	Chicago Black Hawks	D	1	0	0	0	0	2
55	Ernie Godden	1961	Toronto Maple Leafs	F	5	1	1	2	6	1
56	Mike Vernon	1963	Calgary Flames	G	782	0	39	39	271
57	Ron Handy	1963	New York Islanders	F	14	0	3	3	0	-2
58	Ken Strong	1963	Philadelphia Flyers	F	15	2	2	4	6	-3
59	Jim Aldred	1963	Buffalo Sabres	F
60	Colin Chisholm	1963	Buffalo Sabres	D	1	0	0	0	0	0
61	Paul MacDermid	1963	Hartford Whalers	F	690	116	142	258	1303	-16
62	Gord Donnelly	1962	St. Louis Blues	F	554	28	41	69	2069	-60
63	Neal Coulter	1963	New York Islanders	F	26	5	5	10	11	-2

Round 4

No.	Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
64	Kirk McCaskill	1961	Winnipeg Jets	F
65	Dave Michayluk	1962	Philadelphia Flyers	F	14	2	6	8	8	-1
66	Gus Greco	1963	Colorado Rockies	F
67	Mike Hoffman	1963	Hartford Whalers	F	9	1	3	4	2	-3
68	Tony Kellin	1963	Washington Capitals	F
69	Terry Tait	1963	Minnesota North Stars	F
70	Norm Schmidt	1963	Pittsburgh Penguins	D	125	23	33	56	73	-1
71	Paul Houck	1963	Edmonton Oilers	F	16	1	2	3	2	-1
72	John Vanbiesbrouck	1963	New York Rangers	G	882	0	35	35	310
73	Wendell Young	1963	Vancouver Canucks	G	187	0	10	10	20
74	Clint Malarchuk	1961	Quebec Nordiques	G	337	0	15	15	134
75	Perry Pelensky	1962	Chicago Black Hawks	F	4	0	0	0	5	0
76	Jim Malwitz	1962	Minnesota North Stars	F
77	Scott McLellan	1963	Boston Bruins	F	2	0	0	0	0	0
78	Peter Madach	1963	Calgary Flames	F
79	Kenneth Latta	1962	Philadelphia Flyers	F
80	Jeff Eatough	1963	Buffalo Sabres	F	1	0	0	0	0	-1
81	Marty Dallman	1963	Los Angeles Kings	F	6	0	1	1	0	1
82	Kjell Dahlin	1963	Montreal Canadiens	F	166	57	59	116	10	11
83	Anders Wikberg	1963	Buffalo Sabres	F
84	Todd Lumbard	1963	New York Islanders	G

Round 5

No.	Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
85	Marc Behrend	1961	Winnipeg Jets	G	39	0	0	0	0
86	Larry Trader	1963	Detroit Red Wings	D	91	5	13	18	74	-1
87	Doug Speck	1963	Colorado Rockies	D
88	Steve Rooney	1962	Montreal Canadiens	F	154	15	13	28	496	-16
89	Mike Siltala	1963	Washington Capitals	F	7	1	0	1	2	0
90	Normand Lefrancois	1962	Toronto Maple Leafs	F
91	Peter Sidorkiewicz	1963	Washington Capitals	G	246	0	9	9	20
92	Phil Drouillard	1963	Edmonton Oilers	F
93	Bill Maguire	1963	Hartford Whalers	D
94	Jacques Sylvestre	1963	New York Islanders	F
95	Ed Lee	1961	Quebec Nordiques	F	2	0	0	0	5	-4
96	Doug Chessell	1963	Chicago Black Hawks	G
97	Kelly Hubbard	1963	Minnesota North Stars	D
98	Joe Mantione	1963	Boston Bruins	G
99	Mario Simioni	1963	Calgary Flames	F
100	Justin Hanley	1961	Philadelphia Flyers	F
101	Mauri Eivola	1963	Buffalo Sabres	F
102	Barry Brigley	1962	Toronto Maple Leafs	F
103	Dan Bourbonnais	1962	Hartford Whalers	F	59	3	25	28	11	-5
104	Mike Hickey	1961	St. Louis Blues	F
105	Moe Lemay	1962	Vancouver Canucks	F	317	72	94	166	442	-34

Round 6

No.	Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
106	Bob O'Connor	1961	Winnipeg Jets	G
107	Gerard Gallant	1963	Detroit Red Wings	F	615	211	269	480	1674	58
108	Bruce Driver	1962	Colorado Rockies	D	922	96	390	486	670	14
109	Paul Edwards	1963	Pittsburgh Penguins	D
110	Jim McGeough	1963	Washington Capitals	F	57	7	10	17	32	-14
111	Steve Smith	1963	Edmonton Oilers	D	804	72	303	375	2139	139
112	Rod Buskas	1961	Pittsburgh Penguins	D	556	19	63	82	1294	-52
113	Marc Habscheid	1963	Edmonton Oilers	F	345	72	91	163	171	-16
114	Eric Magnuson	1961	New York Rangers	F
115	Stu Kulak	1963	Vancouver Canucks	F	90	8	4	12	130	-20
116	Mike Eagles	1963	Quebec Nordiques	F	853	74	122	196	928	-119
117	Bill Schafhauser	1962	Chicago Black Hawks	D
118	Paul Guay	1963	Minnesota North Stars	F	117	11	23	34	92	-23
119	Bruce Milton	1962	Boston Bruins	D
120	Todd Hooey	1963	Calgary Flames	F
121	Andre Villeneuve	1963	Philadelphia Flyers	D
122	Justin Butorac	1964	Buffalo Sabres	D
123	Brad Thompson	1963	Los Angeles Kings	D
124	Tom Anastos	1963	Montreal Canadiens	F
125	Peter Åslin	1962	St. Louis Blues	G
126	Chuck Brimmer	1963	New York Islanders	F

Round 7

No.	Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
127	Peter Nilsson	1962	Winnipeg Jets	F
128	Greg Stefan	1961	Detroit Red Wings	G	299	0	15	15	199
129	Jeff Larmer	1962	Colorado Rockies	F	158	37	51	88	55	-21
130	John Mokosak	1963	Hartford Whalers	D	41	0	2	2	96	-9
131	Risto Jalo	1962	Washington Capitals	F	3	0	3	3	0	2
132	Andrew Wright	1963	Toronto Maple Leafs	D
133	Geoff Wilson	1962	Pittsburgh Penguins	F
134	Craig Hurley	1963	Los Angeles Kings	D
135	Mike Guentzel	1962	New York Rangers	D
136	Bruce Holloway	1963	Vancouver Canucks	D	2	0	0	0	0	-1
137	Vladimir Svitek	1962	Philadelphia Flyers	F
138	Marc Centrone	1963	Chicago Black Hawks	F
139	Jim Archibald	1961	Minnesota North Stars	F	16	1	2	3	45	-4
140	Mats Thelin	1961	Boston Bruins	D	163	8	19	27	176	3
141	Rick Heppner	1963	Calgary Flames	D
142	Gil Hudon	1962	Philadelphia Flyers	G
143	Heikki Leime	1962	Buffalo Sabres	D
144	Jens-Peter Sawkins	1963	Los Angeles Kings	D
145	Tom Kurvers	1962	Montreal Canadiens	D	659	93	328	421	350	-38
146	Erik Holmberg	1963	St. Louis Blues	F
147	Teppo Virta	1962	New York Islanders	F

Round 8

No.	Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
148	Dan McFall	1963	Winnipeg Jets	D	9	0	1	1	0	-6
149	Rick Zombo	1963	Detroit Red Wings	D	652	24	130	154	728	22
150	Tony Arima	1961	Colorado Rockies	F
151	Denis Dore	1963	Hartford Whalers	F
152	Gaetan Duchesne	1962	Washington Capitals	F	1028	179	254	433	617	103
153	Richard Turmel	1962	Toronto Maple Leafs	D
154	Mitch Lamoureux	1962	Pittsburgh Penguins	F	73	11	9	20	59	-18
155	Mike Sturgeon	1963	Edmonton Oilers	D
156	Ari Lähteenmäki	1961	New York Rangers	F
157	Petri Skriko	1962	Vancouver Canucks	F	541	183	222	405	246	-101
158	Andre Cote	1961	Quebec Nordiques	F
159	Johan Mellström	1963	Chicago Black Hawks	F
160	Kari Kanervo	1963	Minnesota North Stars	F
161	Armel Parisee	1963	Boston Bruins	D
162	Dale Degray	1963	Calgary Flames	D	153	18	47	65	195	-1
163	Steve Taylor	1962	Philadelphia Flyers	F
164	Gates Orlando	1962	Buffalo Sabres	F	98	18	26	44	51	-9
165	Dan Brennan	1962	Los Angeles Kings	F	8	0	1	1	9	-2
166	Paul Gess	1962	Montreal Canadiens	F
167	Alain Vigneault	1961	St. Louis Blues	D	42	2	5	7	82	-5
168	Bill Dowd	1963	New York Islanders	D

Round 9

No.	Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
169	Greg Dick	1962	Winnipeg Jets	G
170	Don Leblanc	1963	Detroit Red Wings	F
171	Tim Army	1963	Colorado Rockies	F
172	Jeff Poeschl	1962	Hartford Whalers	G
173	George White	1961	Washington Capitals	F
174	Greg Barber	1963	Toronto Maple Leafs	D
175	Dean Defazio	1963	Pittsburgh Penguins	F	22	0	2	2	28	-11
176	Miloslav Horava	1961	Edmonton Oilers	D	80	5	17	22	38	10
177	Paul Reifenberger	1963	New York Rangers	F
178	Frank Caprice	1962	Vancouver Canucks	G	102	0	3	3	17
179	Marc Brisebois	1963	Quebec Nordiques	F
180	John Benns	1963	Chicago Black Hawks	F
181	Scott Bjugstad	1961	Minnesota North Stars	F	317	76	68	144	144	-37
182	Don Sylvestri	1961	Boston Bruins	G	3	0	0	0	2
183	George Boudreau	1963	Calgary Flames	D
184	Leonard Hachborn	1961	Philadelphia Flyers	F	102	20	39	59	29	14
185	Vaclav Sebek	1963	Buffalo Sabres	D
186	Allan Tuer	1963	Los Angeles Kings	D	57	1	1	2	208	-22
187	Scott Ferguson	1963	Montreal Canadiens	D
188	Dan Wood	1962	St. Louis Blues	F
189	Scott MacLellan	1963	New York Islanders	D

Round 10

No.	Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
190	Vladimir Kadlec	1962	Winnipeg Jets	D
191	Robert Nordmark	1962	Detroit Red Wings	D	236	13	70	83	254	-36
192	John Johannson	1961	Colorado Rockies	F	5	0	0	0	0	-2
193	Larry Power	1963	Hartford Whalers	F
194	Chris Valentine	1961	Washington Capitals	F	105	43	52	95	127	-27
195	Marc Magnan	1962	Toronto Maple Leafs	F	4	0	1	1	5	0
196	Dave Hannan	1961	Pittsburgh Penguins	F	841	114	191	305	942	-58
197	Gord Sherven	1963	Edmonton Oilers	F	97	13	22	35	33	-5
198	Mario Proulx	1961	New York Rangers	G
199	Rejean Vignola	1963	Vancouver Canucks	F
200	Kari Takko	1962	Quebec Nordiques	G	142	0	2	2	30
201	Sylvain Roy	1963	Chicago Black Hawks	D
202	Steve Kudebeh	1963	Minnesota North Stars	G
203	Richard Bourque	1963	Boston Bruins	F
204	Bruce Eakin	1962	Calgary Flames	F	13	2	2	4	4	-7
205	Steven Tsujiura	1962	Philadelphia Flyers	F
206	Warren Harper	1963	Buffalo Sabres	F
207	Jeffrey Baikie	1961	Los Angeles Kings	F
208	Dan Burrows	1963	Montreal Canadiens	G
209	Richard Zemlak	1963	St. Louis Blues	F	133	2	12	14	587	-26
210	Dave Randerson	1963	New York Islanders	F

Round 11

No.		Name	Born	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-
211		Dave Kirwin	1963	Winnipeg Jets	D

Current season NHL stats last updated: June 18, 2025
Current season NHL stats provided by XML Team Solutions: Content Copyright 2024, The Sports Forecaster. Distributed by XML Team Solutions.