Bellows was described by Sports Illustrated as the hottest prospect since Wayne Gretzky during his junior career with Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League, when he scored 94 goals and 213 points in 113 games over two seasons.

The Minnesota North Stars, who owned the No. 2 pick in the 1982 NHL Draft after a trade with the Detroit Red Wings, wanted Bellows badly and were willing to give the Boston Bruins, who had the No. 1 pick, two players not to take Bellows. The Bruins agreed and selected defenseman Gord Kluzak No. 1, allowing Bellows to fall to the North Stars.

Bellows scored 35 goals for Minnesota as an 18-year-old in 1982-83. He was a 41-goal scorer in his second season, scored 40 goals in 1987-88 and had his biggest NHL season in 1989-90, scoring 55 goals and 99 points. He was voted to the NHL Second All-Star Team.

Bellows scored 35 and 30 goals in his next two seasons, giving him 342 in a decade with the North Stars. He was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on Aug. 31, 1992 and helped them win the Stanley Cup for the 24th time. Bellows scored 40 goals and 88 points during the regular season, then contributed 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 18 games during Montreal's Cup run.

He played one more season with the Canadiens before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 30, 1995. Bellows had his last 20-goal season in 1995-96, scoring 23 to help the Lightning clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time. He was traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim early in the 1996-97 season and he had 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) in 62 games.

Bellows joined the Washington Capitals late in the 1997-98 season, and he scored six goals in 11 games. He then scored the series-clinching overtime goal in Game 6 of the first round against the Boston Bruins and helped the Capitals advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since entering the NHL in 1974-75, though they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings.

Bellows scored 17 goals in 1998-99 and reached 1,000 career points with an assist on Jan. 2, 1999. He retired after the season with 1,022 points (485 goals, 537 assists) in 1,188 NHL games, as well as 122 points (51 goals, 71 assists) in 143 playoff games.

His son, Kiefer Bellows, was a first-round pick (No. 19) by the New York Islanders in the 2016 NHL Draft.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• Memorial Cup All-Star Team (1981)
• OHL First All-Star Team (1982)
• George Parsons Trophy (Memorial Cup - Most Sportsmanlike Player) (1982)
• WEC-A - Best Forward (1989)
• NHL Second All-Star Team (1990)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (1984, 1988, 1992)
• Traded to Montreal by Minnesota for Russ Courtnall, August 31, 1992.
• Traded to Tampa Bay by Montreal for Marc Bureau, June 30, 1995.
• Traded to Anaheim by Tampa Bay for Anaheim's 6th round pick (Andrei Skopintsev) in 1997 NHL Draft, November 19, 1996.
• Signed as a free agent by Washington, March 21, 1998.