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 79 games, before adding four goals and eight points in 20 playoff games.