The 1981–82 Hartford Whalers season was the Whalers' third season in the National Hockey League. Offseason The NHL realigned into what were for all intents and purposes entirely new divisions that, while retaining all of the names that had been used since 1974, were closely based on North American geography. This ended the Whalers' two-year stay in the Norris Division, as along with the Montreal Canadiens they moved from the Norris to the Adams Division where they were joined by their closest geographical rival Boston Bruins in addition to the Buffalo Sabres and Quebec Nordiques. At the 1981 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec on June 10, the Whalers selected center Ron Francis of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League with their first round, fourth overall selection. In 64 games with the Greyhounds in 1980–81, Francis scored 26 goals and 69 points. On June 15, the Whalers signed restricted free agent goaltender Greg Millen from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hartford sent forwards Pat Boutette and Kevin McClelland to the Penguins as compensation. In 63 games with the Penguins in 1980–81, Millen earned a record of 25–27–10 with a 4.17 GAA and a save percentage of .864. A couple of weeks later, on July 3, the Whalers were involved in a blockbuster trade with the Philadelphia Flyers. Hartford sent defenseman Fred Arthur, right winger Ray Allison, a first round and a third round draft pick from the 1982 NHL Entry Draft to Philadelphia for center Rick MacLeish, defenseman Blake Wesley, right winger Don Gillen, and the Flyers first round, second round and third round draft picks in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. MacLeish was coming off a season in which he scored 38 goals and 74 points in 78 games with the Flyers in 1980–81. He won two Stanley Cup championships with Philadelphia in 1974 and 1975, in which in both seasons he led the NHL in playoff scoring. Wesley split the 1980–81 season between the Flyers and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Maine Mariners. In 50 games with Philadelphia, Wesley scored three goals and 10 points, while in 24 games with Maine, Wesley scored six goals and 16 points, followed by a goal and nine points in nine post-season games with the Mariners. Gillen spent the entire 1980–81 season with Maine, scoring 30 goals, 59 points and 255 penalty minutes in