The 1982–83 Hartford Whalers season was the Whalers' fourth season in the National Hockey League. Offseason On June 2, the Whalers made a head coaching change, as Larry Pleau was replaced by Larry Kish. Kish had been the head coach of the Whalers AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Whalers, from 1980 to 1982. Kish led Binghamton to a 46-28-6 record, earning 98 points and first place in the Southern Division in 1981-82. In the post-season, Binghamton lost to the New Brunswick Hawks in the Calder Cup finals. Pleau remained with Hartford as director of hockey operations. At the 1982 NHL Entry Draft held on June 9 at the Montreal Forum, the Whalers selected left winger Paul Lawless with their first round, 14th overall, draft pick. Lawless played with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League during the 1981-82 season, in which in 68 games, he scored 24 goals and 49 points. Other notable picks by the Whalers included Kevin Dineen, Ray Ferraro and Ulf Samuelsson. On June 30, Whalers captain Dave Keon retired. Keon joined the organization in 1976 when they played in the WHA and remained with the club after they joined the NHL in 1979. In three seasons and a half seasons with New England, Keon scored 60 goals and 166 points in 190 games. In three seasons with Hartford, Keon played in 234 games, scoring 31 goals and 128 points. Overall, in his NHL career, Keon played in 1296 games, scoring 396 goals and 986 points. In 92 playoff games, Keon scored 32 goals and 68 points, as well as winning the Stanley Cup four times with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967. On August 19, the Whalers were involved in a three-way deal with the Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers. In the first part of the deal, the Whalers traded defenseman Mark Howe and a third round draft pick in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft to the Flyers for center Ken Linseman, Greg Adams, a first round pick in 1983 and a third round pick in 1983. Then Hartford dealt away Linseman and center Don Nachbaur to the Oilers in exchange for defenseman Risto Siltanen and Brent Loney. Adams saw limited action with the Flyers in 1981-82, playing in 33 games, as he scored four goals and 19 points. In 45 games with the Flyers AHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners, Adams scored