1981 NHL Draft
Chris Chelios in the 1981 NHL Draft
Montréal Canadiens selected Chris Chelios 40th overall in the 1981 NHL Draft, with the 19th pick of round 2.
It was the fifth of the 13 picks Montréal Canadiens made in the draft. Of the 211 players selected in 1981, 114 have played in the NHL regular season. Only one of them has played more games than his 1651, and only 3 have scored more points than his 948.
- Overall pick
- 40
- Round and pick
- Round 2, pick 19
- Drafting team
- MTLMontréal Canadiens
- Date
- Age at the draft
- 19 years
The picks around it
Picks 37–43 in the 1981 draft
- 37Rich CostelloC12 GP · 4 PPHIPhiladelphia Flyers
- 38Hannu VirtaD245 GP · 126 PBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 39Dean KennedyD717 GP · 136 PLAKLos Angeles Kings
- 40Chris CheliosD1651 GP · 948 PMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 41Jali WahlstenCMNSMinnesota North Stars
- 42Gord DineenD528 GP · 106 PNYINew York Islanders
- 43Jyrki SeppaD13 GP · 2 PWINWinnipeg Jets
Games and points are NHL regular season to date.
Place in the draft class
Where he came in the 1981 class
40th
of 211 players selected
16th
of 67 defensemen selected
Counted in draft order across the whole draft. The position is the one listed at the draft.
First off the board
- 1Dale HawerchukC1188 GP · 1409 PWINWinnipeg Jets
- 2Doug SmithC535 GP · 253 PLAKLos Angeles Kings
- 3Bobby CarpenterC1178 GP · 728 PWSHWashington Capitals
- 4Ron FrancisC1731 GP · 1798 PHFDHartford Whalers
- 5Joe CirellaD828 GP · 275 PCLRColorado Rockies
- 6Jim BenningD605 GP · 243 PTORToronto Maple Leafs
- 7Mark HunterR628 GP · 383 PMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 8Grant FuhrG868 GP · 403 WEDMEdmonton Oilers
- 9James PatrickD1280 GP · 639 PNYRNew York Rangers
- 10Garth ButcherD897 GP · 206 PVANVancouver Canucks
+ 201 more
After the draft
The road to the NHL
Chris Chelios made his NHL debut on March 8, 1984, 2 years and 272 days after the draft.
1651
Games
185
Goals
763
Assists
948
Points
NHL regular season to date.
The team's draft
Montréal Canadiens picks in the 1981 draft
- 7Mark HunterR628 GP · 383 PMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 18Gilbert DelormeD541 GP · 123 PMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 19Jan IngmanLMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 32Lars ErikssonGMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 40Chris CheliosD1651 GP · 948 PMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 46Dieter HegenCMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 82Kjell DahlinC166 GP · 116 PMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 88Steve RooneyC154 GP · 28 PMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 124Thomas AnastosRMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 145Tom KurversD659 GP · 421 PMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 166Paul GessLMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 187Scott FergusonDMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 208Dan BurrowsGMTLMontréal Canadiens