1981 NHL Entry Draft Pick Transactions
yellow = data that is incomplete or uncertain
| Overall # | Round # | Team | Transactions | Player Drafted |
| Round 1 | ||||
| 1 | 1-1 | Jets | Dale Hawerchuk | |
| 2 | 1-2 | Red Wings | > Kings — Traded Dale McCourt, rights to restricted free agent Rogie Vachon to Red Wings for Andre St. Laurent, 1980 first round pick (#4-Larry Murphy), 1980 second round pick or 1981 first round pick (Kings option) (1981 #2-Doug Smith) on 1979-08-22 | Doug Smith |
| 3 | 1-3 | Rockies | > Capitals — Traded 1981 first round pick (#5-Joe Cirella), 1981 second round pick (#26-Rich Chernomaz) to Rockies for 1981 first round pick (#3-Bobby Carpenter), 1981 third round pick (#45-Eric Calder) on 1981-06-10 | Bobby Carpenter |
| 4 | 1-4 | Whalers | Ron Francis | |
| 5 | 1-5 | Capitals | > Rockies — Traded 1981 first round pick (#3-Bobby Carpenter), 1981 third round pick (#45-Eric Calder) to Capitals for 1981 first round pick (#5-Joe Cirella), 1981 second round pick (#26-Rich Chernomaz) on 1981-06-10 | Joe Cirella |
| 6 | 1-6 | Maple Leafs | Jim Benning | |
| 7 | 1-7 | Penguins | > Canadiens — Traded Rod Schutt to Penguins for 1981 first round pick (#7-Mark Hunter) on 1978-10-18 | Mark Hunter |
| 8 | 1-8 | Oilers | Grant Fuhr | |
| 9 | 1-9 | Rangers | James Patrick | |
| 10 | 1-10 | Canucks | Garth Butcher | |
| 11 | 1-11 | Nordiques | Randy Moller | |
| 12 | 1-12 | Blackhawks | Tony Tanti | |
| 13 | 1-13 | North Stars | Ron Meighan | |
| 14 | 1-14 | Bruins | Normand Leveille | |
| 15 | 1-15 | Flames | Al MacInnis | |
| 16 | 1-16 | Flyers | Steve Smith | |
| 17 | 1-17 | Sabres | Jiri Dudacek | |
| 18 | 1-18 | Kings | > Canadiens — Traded Murray Wilson, 1979 first round pick (#16-Jay Wells) to Kings for 1981 first round pick (#18-Gilbert Delorme) on 1978-10-05 | Gilbert Delorme |
| 19 | 1-19 | Canadiens | Jan Ingman | |
| 20 | 1-20 | Blues | Marty Ruff | |
| 21 | 1-21 | Islanders | Paul Boutilier | |
| Round 2 | ||||
| 22 | 2-1 | Jets | Scott Arniel | |
| 23 | 2-2 | Red Wings | Claude Loiselle | |
| 24 | 2-3 | Rockies | > Maple Leafs — Traded Jack Valiquette to Rockies for 1981 second round pick (#24-Gary Yaremchuk) on 1978-10-19 | Gary Yaremchuk |
| 25 | 2-4 | Whalers | > Blackhawks — Traded Mike Veisor to Whalers for 1981 or 1982 second round pick (Blackhawks option) (1981 #25-Kevin Griffin) on 1980-06-19 | Kevin Griffin |
| 26 | 2-5 | Capitals | > Rockies — Traded 1981 first round pick (#3-Bobby Carpenter), 1981 third round pick (#45-Eric Calder) to Capitals for 1981 first round pick (#5-Joe Cirella), 1981 second round pick (#26-Rich Chernomaz) on 1981-06-10 | Rich Chernomaz |
| 27 | 2-6 | Maple Leafs | > North Stars — Traded Ron Zanussi, 1981 third round pick (#55-Ernie Godden) to Maple Leafs for 1981 second round pick (#27-Dave Donnelly) on 1981-03-10 | Dave Donnelly |
| 28 | 2-7 | Penguins | Steve Gatzos | |
| 29 | 2-8 | Oilers | Todd Strueby | |
| 30 | 2-9 | Rangers | Jan Erixon | |
| 31 | 2-10 | Canucks | > North Stars — Traded Olov Brasar to Canucks for 1981 second round pick (#31-Mike Sands) on 1979-12-10 | Mike Sands |
| 32 | 2-11 | Nordiques | > Canadiens — Traded Canadiens promise to take Danny Geoffrion and Alain Cote, rather than Marc Tardif and/or Richard David, from Nordiques in 1979 NHL reclaim draft in exchange for 1980 third round pick (#45-John Newberry), 1981 second round pick (#32-Lars Eriksson), Nordiques promise to take Alain Cote in NHL expansion draft on 1979-06-09 | Lars Eriksson |
| 33 | 2-12 | Blackhawks | > North Stars — Traded Glen Sharpley to Blackhawks for 1981 second round pick (#33-Tom Hirsch) on 1980-12-29 | Tom Hirsch |
| 34 | 2-13 | North Stars | Dave Preuss | |
| 35 | 2-14 | Bruins | Luc Dufour | |
| 36 | 2-15 | Flames | > Blues — Traded Garry Unger to Flames for Ed Kea, Don Laurence, 1981 second round pick (#36-Hakan Nordin) on 1979-10-10 | Hakan Nordin |
| 37 | 2-16 | Flyers | Rich Costello | |
| 38 | 2-17 | Sabres | Hannu Virta | |
| 39 | 2-18 | Kings | Dean Kennedy | |
| 40 | 2-19 | Canadiens | Chris Chelios | |
| 41 | 2-20 | Blues | > North Stars — Traded Bob Stewart, future considerations (Harvey Bennett on 8/28) to Blues for 1981 second round pick (#41-Jali Wahlsten) on 1978-06-15 | Jali Wahlsten |
| 42 | 2-21 | Islanders | Gord Dineen | |
| Round 3 | ||||
| 43 | 3-1 | Jets | Jyrki Seppa | |
| 44 | 3-2 | Red Wings | Corrado Micalef | |
| 45 | 3-3 | Rockies | > Capitals — Traded 1981 first round pick (#5-Joe Cirella), 1981 second round pick (#26-Rich Chernomaz) to Rockies for 1981 first round pick (#3-Bobby Carpenter), 1981 third round pick (#45-Eric Calder) on 1981-06-10 | Eric Calder |
| 46 | 3-4 | Whalers | > Canadiens — Traded Rick Meagher, 1981 third round pick (#61-Paul MacDermid), 1981 fifth round pick (#103-Dan Bourbonnais) to Whalers for 1981 third round pick (#46-Dieter Hegen), 1981 fifth round pick (#88-Steve Rooney) on 1980-06-05 | Dieter Hegen |
| 47 | 3-5 | Capitals | > Flyers — Traded Wayne Stephenson to Capitals for 1981 third round pick (#47-Barry Tabobondung) on 1979-08-16 | Barry Tabobondung |
| 48 | 3-6 | Maple Leafs | > Rockies — Traded Rene Robert to Maple Leafs for 1981 third round pick (#48-Uli Hiemer) on 1981-06-30 | Uli Hiemer |
| 49 | 3-7 | Penguins | Tom Thornbury | |
| 50 | 3-8 | Oilers | > Rangers — Traded Don Murdoch to Oilers for Cam Connor, 1981 third round pick (#50-Peter Sundstrom) on 1980-03-11 | Peter Sundstrom |
| 51 | 3-9 | Rangers | Mark Morrison | |
| 52 | 3-10 | Canucks | Jean-Marc Lanthier | |
| 53 | 3-11 | Nordiques | Jean-Marc Gaulin | |
| 54 | 3-12 | Blackhawks | Darrell Anholt | |
| 55 | 3-13 | North Stars | > Maple Leafs — Traded 1981 second round pick (#27-Dave Donnelly) to North Stars for Ron Zanussi, 1981 third round pick (#55-Ernie Godden) on 1981-03-10 | Ernie Godden |
| 56 | 3-14 | Bruins | > Flames — Traded Jim Craig to Bruins for 1980 second round pick (#39-Steve Konroyd), 1981 third round pick (#56-Mike Vernon) on 1980-06-02 | Mike Vernon |
| 57 | 3-15 | Flames | > Islanders — Traded Alex McKendry to Flames for 1981 third round pick (#57-Ron Handy) on 1980-10-09 | Ron Handy |
| 58 | 3-16 | Flyers | Ken Strong | |
| 59 | 3-17 | Sabres | Jim Aldred | |
| 60 | 3-18 | Kings | > Sabres — Traded Rick Martin to Kings for 1981 third round pick (#60-Colin Chisholm), 1983 first round pick (#5-Tom Barrasso) on 1981-03-10 | Colin Chisholm |
| 61 | 3-19 | Canadiens | > Whalers — Traded 1981 third round pick (#46-Dieter Hegen), 1981 fifth round pick (#88-Steve Rooney) to Canadiens for Rick Meagher, 1981 third round pick (#61-Paul MacDermid), 1981 fifth round pick (#103-Dan Bourbonnais) on 1980-06-05 | Paul MacDermid |
| 62 | 3-20 | Blues | Gord Donnelly | |
| 63 | 3-21 | Islanders | Neal Coulter | |
| Round 4 | ||||
| 64 | 4-1 | Jets | Kirk McCaskill | |
| 65 | 4-2 | Red Wings | > Flyers — Traded Dennis Sobchuk to Red Wings for 1981 conditional third or fourth round pick (#65-Dave Michayluk) on 1979-09-04 | Dave Michayluk |
| 66 | 4-3 | Rockies | Gus Greco | |
| 67 | 4-4 | Whalers | Mike Hoffman | |
| 68 | 4-5 | Capitals | Tony Kellin | |
| 69 | 4-6 | Maple Leafs | > North Stars — Traded Paul Harrison to Maple Leafs for 1981 fourth round pick (#69-Terry Tait) on 1978-06-14 | Terry Tait |
| 70 | 4-7 | Penguins | Norm Schmidt | |
| 71 | 4-8 | Oilers | Paul Houck | |
| 72 | 4-9 | Rangers | John Vanbiesbrouck | |
| 73 | 4-10 | Canucks | Wendell Young | |
| 74 | 4-11 | Nordiques | Clint Malarchuk | |
| 75 | 4-12 | Blackhawks | Perry Pelensky | |
| 76 | 4-13 | North Stars | Jim Malwitz | |
| 77 | 4-14 | Bruins | Scott McLellan | |
| 78 | 4-15 | Flames | Peter Madach | |
| 79 | 4-16 | Flyers | Ken Latta | |
| 80 | 4-17 | Sabres | Jeff Eatough | |
| 81 | 4-18 | Kings | Marty Dallman | |
| 82 | 4-19 | Canadiens | Kjell Dahlin | |
| 83 | 4-20 | Blues | > Sabres — Traded Bill Stewart to Blues for Bob Hess, 1981 fourth round pick (#83-Anders Wikberg) on 1980-10-30 | Anders Wikberg |
| 84 | 4-21 | Islanders | Todd Lumbard | |
| Round 5 | ||||
| 85 | 5-1 | Jets | Marc Behrend | |
| 86 | 5-2 | Red Wings | Larry Trader | |
| 87 | 5-3 | Rockies | Doug Speck | |
| 88 | 5-4 | Whalers | > Canadiens — Traded Rick Meagher, 1981 third round pick (#61-Paul MacDermid), 1981 fifth round pick (#103-Dan Bourbonnais) to Whalers for 1981 third round pick (#46-Dieter Hegen), 1981 fifth round pick (#88-Steve Rooney) on 1980-06-05 | Steve Rooney |
| 89 | 5-5 | Capitals | Mike Siltala | |
| 90 | 5-6 | Maple Leafs | Normand Lefrancois | |
| 91 | 5-7 | Penguins | > Capitals — Traded Gary Rissling to Penguins for 1981 fifth round pick (#91-Peter Sidorkiewicz) on 1981-01-02 | Peter Sidorkiewicz |
| 92 | 5-8 | Oilers | Phil Drouillard | |
| 93 | 5-9 | Rangers | > Whalers — Traded Nick Fotiu to Rangers for 1981 fifth round pick (#93-Bill Maguire) on 1981-01-15 | Bill Maguire |
| 94 | 5-10 | Canucks | > Islanders — Traded Richard Brodeur, 1981 fifth round pick (#105-Moe Lemay) to Canucks for 1981 fifth round pick (#94-Jacques Sylvestre) on 1980-10-06 | Jacques Sylvestre |
| 95 | 5-11 | Nordiques | Ed Lee | |
| 96 | 5-12 | Blackhawks | Doug Chessell | |
| 97 | 5-13 | North Stars | Kelly Hubbard | |
| 98 | 5-14 | Bruins | Joe Mantione | |
| 99 | 5-15 | Flames | Mario Simioni | |
| 100 | 5-16 | Flyers | Justin Hanley | |
| 101 | 5-17 | Sabres | Mauri Eivola | |
| 102 | 5-18 | Kings | > Maple Leafs — Traded Jim Rutherford to Kings for 1981 fifth round pick (#102-Barry Brigley) on 1981-03-10 | Barry Brigley |
| 103 | 5-19 | Canadiens | > Whalers — Traded 1981 third round pick (#46-Dieter Hegen), 1981 fifth round pick (#88-Steve Rooney) to Canadiens for Rick Meagher, 1981 third round pick (#61-Paul MacDermid), 1981 fifth round pick (#103-Dan Bourbonnais) on 1980-06-05 | Dan Bourbonnais |
| 104 | 5-20 | Blues | Mike Hickey | |
| 105 | 5-21 | Islanders | > Canucks — Traded 1981 fifth round pick (#94-Jacques Sylvestre) to Islanders for Richard Brodeur, 1981 fifth round pick (#105-Moe Lemay) on 1980-10-06 | Moe Lemay |
| Round 6 | ||||
| 106 | 6-1 | Jets | Bob O'Connor | |
| 107 | 6-2 | Red Wings | Gerard Gallant | |
| 108 | 6-3 | Rockies | Bruce Driver | |
| 109 | 6-4 | Whalers | > Penguins — Traded Gilles Lupien to Whalers for 1981 sixth round pick (#109-Paul Edwards) on 1981-02-20 | Paul Edwards |
| 110 | 6-5 | Capitals | Jim McGeough | |
| 111 | 6-6 | Maple Leafs | > Oilers — Traded Reg Thomas to Maple Leafs for 1981 sixth round pick (#111-Steve Smith) on 1979-08-22 | Steve Smith |
| 112 | 6-7 | Penguins | Rod Buskas | |
| 113 | 6-8 | Oilers | Marc Habscheid | |
| 114 | 6-9 | Rangers | Eric Magnuson | |
| 115 | 6-10 | Canucks | Stu Kulak | |
| 116 | 6-11 | Nordiques | Mike Eagles | |
| 117 | 6-12 | Blackhawks | Bill Schafhauser | |
| 118 | 6-13 | North Stars | Paul Guay | |
| 119 | 6-14 | Bruins | Bruce Milton | |
| 120 | 6-15 | Flames | Todd Hooey | |
| 121 | 6-16 | Flyers | Andre Villeneuve | |
| 122 | 6-17 | Sabres | Ali Butorac | |
| 123 | 6-18 | Kings | Brad Thompson | |
| 124 | 6-19 | Canadiens | Tom Anastos | |
| 125 | 6-20 | Blues | Peter Aslin | |
| 126 | 6-21 | Islanders | Chuck Brimmer | |
| Round 7 | ||||
| 127 | 7-1 | Jets | Peter Nilsson | |
| 128 | 7-2 | Red Wings | Greg Stefan | |
| 129 | 7-3 | Rockies | Jeff Larmer | |
| 130 | 7-4 | Whalers | John Mokosak | |
| 131 | 7-5 | Capitals | Risto Jalo | |
| 132 | 7-6 | Maple Leafs | Andrew Wright | |
| 133 | 7-7 | Penguins | Geoff Wilson | |
| 134 | 7-8 | Oilers | > Kings — Traded Garry Unger to Oilers for 1981 seventh round pick (#134-Craig Hurley) on 1981-03-10 | Craig Hurley |
| 135 | 7-9 | Rangers | Mike Guentzel | |
| 136 | 7-10 | Canucks | Bruce Holloway | |
| 137 | 7-11 | Nordiques | > Flyers — Traded Andre Dupont to Nordiques for 1981 seventh round pick (#137-Vladimir Svitek), cash on 1980-09-15 | Vladimir Svitek |
| 138 | 7-12 | Blackhawks | Marc Centrone | |
| 139 | 7-13 | North Stars | Jim Archibald | |
| 140 | 7-14 | Bruins | Mats Thelin | |
| 141 | 7-15 | Flames | Rick Heppner | |
| 142 | 7-16 | Flyers | Gil Hudon | |
| 143 | 7-17 | Sabres | Heikki Leime | |
| 144 | 7-18 | Kings | Peter Sawkins | |
| 145 | 7-19 | Canadiens | Tom Kurvers | |
| 146 | 7-20 | Blues | Erik Holmberg | |
| 147 | 7-21 | Islanders | Teppo Virta | |
| Round 8 | ||||
| 148 | 8-1 | Jets | Dan McFall | |
| 149 | 8-2 | Red Wings | Rick Zombo | |
| 150 | 8-3 | Rockies | Tony Arima | |
| 151 | 8-4 | Whalers | Denis Dore | |
| 152 | 8-5 | Capitals | Gaetan Duchesne | |
| 153 | 8-6 | Maple Leafs | Richard Turmel | |
| 154 | 8-7 | Penguins | Mitch Lamoureux | |
| 155 | 8-8 | Oilers | Mike Sturgeon | |
| 156 | 8-9 | Rangers | Ari Lahteenmaki | |
| 157 | 8-10 | Canucks | Petri Skriko | |
| 158 | 8-11 | Nordiques | Andre Cote | |
| 159 | 8-12 | Blackhawks | Johan Mellstrom | |
| 160 | 8-13 | North Stars | Kari Kanervo | |
| 161 | 8-14 | Bruins | Armel Parisee | |
| 162 | 8-15 | Flames | Dale DeGray | |
| 163 | 8-16 | Flyers | Steve Taylor | |
| 164 | 8-17 | Sabres | Gates Orlando | |
| 165 | 8-18 | Kings | Dan Brennan | |
| 166 | 8-19 | Canadiens | Paul Gess | |
| 167 | 8-20 | Blues | Alain Vigneault | |
| 168 | 8-21 | Islanders | Bill Dowd | |
| Round 9 | ||||
| 169 | 9-1 | Jets | Greg Dick | |
| 170 | 9-2 | Red Wings | Don LeBlanc | |
| 171 | 9-3 | Rockies | Tim Army | |
| 172 | 9-4 | Whalers | Jeff Poeschl | |
| 173 | 9-5 | Capitals | George White | |
| 174 | 9-6 | Maple Leafs | Greg Barber | |
| 175 | 9-7 | Penguins | Dean DeFazio | |
| 176 | 9-8 | Oilers | Miloslav Horava | |
| 177 | 9-9 | Rangers | Paul Reifenberger | |
| 178 | 9-10 | Canucks | Frank Caprice | |
| 179 | 9-11 | Nordiques | Marc Brisebois | |
| 180 | 9-12 | Blackhawks | John Benns | |
| 181 | 9-13 | North Stars | Scott Bjugstad | |
| 182 | 9-14 | Bruins | Don Sylvestri | |
| 183 | 9-15 | Flames | George Boudreau | |
| 184 | 9-16 | Flyers | Len Hachborn | |
| 185 | 9-17 | Sabres | Venci Sebek | |
| 186 | 9-18 | Kings | Al Tuer | |
| 187 | 9-19 | Canadiens | Scott Ferguson | |
| 188 | 9-20 | Blues | Dan Wood | |
| 189 | 9-21 | Islanders | Scott MacLellan | |
| Round 10 | ||||
| 190 | 10-1 | Jets | Vladimir Kadlec | |
| 191 | 10-2 | Red Wings | Robert Nordmark | |
| 192 | 10-3 | Rockies | John Johannson | |
| 193 | 10-4 | Whalers | Larry Power | |
| 194 | 10-5 | Capitals | Chris Valentine | |
| 195 | 10-6 | Maple Leafs | Marc Magnan | |
| 196 | 10-7 | Penguins | Dave Hannan | |
| 197 | 10-8 | Oilers | Gord Sherven | |
| 198 | 10-9 | Rangers | Mario Proulx | |
| 199 | 10-10 | Canucks | Rejean Vignola | |
| 200 | 10-11 | Nordiques | Kari Takko | |
| 201 | 10-12 | Blackhawks | Sylvain Roy | |
| 202 | 10-13 | North Stars | Steve Kudebeh | |
| 203 | 10-14 | Bruins | Richard Bourque | |
| 204 | 10-15 | Flames | Bruce Eakin | |
| 205 | 10-16 | Flyers | Steve Tsujiura | |
| 206 | 10-17 | Sabres | Warren Harper | |
| 207 | 10-18 | Kings | Jeff Baikie | |
| 208 | 10-19 | Canadiens | Dan Burrows | |
| 209 | 10-20 | Blues | Richard Zemlak | |
| 210 | 10-21 | Islanders | Dave Randerson | |
| Round 11 | ||||
| 211 | 11-1 | Jets | (bonus selection awarded from NHL as compensation for accepting move from the Smythe Division to the Norris Division for the 1981-82 season) | Dave Kirwin |