2017-18 NHL season

2017–18 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 4, 2017 – June 7, 2018
Number of games	82
Number of teams	31
Total attendance	22,174,263
Regular Season
Presidents' Trophy	Nashville Predators
Top scorer	Connor McDavid
Playoffs
Eastern Conference champions	Washington Capitals
Western Conference champions	Vegas Golden Knights
Playoffs MVP	Alexander Ovechkin
Stanley Cup
Champions	Washington Capitals
NHL seasons
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The 2017–18 NHL season was the 101st season of operation (100th season of play) of the National Hockey League. With the addition of a new expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, 31 teams competed in an 82-game regular season. The regular season began on October 4, 2017, and ended on April 7, 2018. The 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs began a few days afterwards, with the Stanley Cup Finals held in early June ending on June 7.

Membership

Eastern Conference

Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity	Joined NHL
Atlantic	Boston Bruins	Boston, Massachusetts	TD Garden	17,565	1924
	Buffalo Sabres	Buffalo, New York	KeyBank Center	18,690	1970
	Detroit Red Wings	Detroit, Michigan	Little Caesars Arena	20,066	1926
	Florida Panthers	Sunrise, Florida	BB&T Center	19,452	1993
	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal, Quebec	Bell Centre	21,273	1917
	Ottawa Senators	Ottawa, Ontario	Canadian Tire Centre	20,500	1992
	Tampa Bay Lightning	Tampa, Florida	Amalie Arena	19,500	1992
	Toronto Maple Leafs	Toronto, Ontario	Air Canada Centre	18,800	1917
Metroplitan	Carolina Hurricanes	Raleigh, North Carolina	PNC Arena	18,639	1979
	Columbus Blue Jackets	Columbus, Ohio	Nationwide Arena	18,136	2000
	New Jersey Devils	Newark, New Jersey	Prudential Center	17,625	1974
	New York Islanders	Brooklyn, New York	Barclays Center	16,234	1972
	New York Rangers	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden	18,200	1926
	Philadelphia Flyers	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Wells Fargo Center	19,500	1967
	Pittsburgh Penguins	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	PPG Paints Arena	18,387	1967
	Washington Capitals	Washington, D.C.	Verizon Center	18,277	1974

Western Conference

Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity	Joined NHL
Central	Chicago Blackhawks	Chicago, Illinois	United Center	19,717	1926
	Colorado Avalanche	Denver, Colorado	Pepsi Center	18,007	1979
	Dallas Stars	Dallas, Texas	American Airlines Center	18,500	1967
	Minnesota Wild	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	18,568	2000
	Nashville Predators	Nashville, Tennessee	Bridgestone Arena	17,113	1998
	St. Louis Blues	St. Louis, Missouri	Scottrade Center	19,022	1967
	Winnipeg Jets	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Bell MTS Place	18,750	2011
Pacific	Anaheim Ducks	Anaheim, California	Honda Center	17,174	1993
	Arizona Coyotes	Glendale, Arizona	Gila River Arena	18,000	1979
	Calgary Flames	Calgary, Alberta	Scotiabank Saddledome	19,289	1972
	Edmonton Oilers	Edmonton, Alberta	Rogers Place	18,641	1979
	Los Angeles Kings	Los Angeles, California	Staples Center	18,118	1967
	San Jose Sharks	San Jose, California	SAP Center at San Jose	17,496	1991
	Vancouver Canucks	Vancouver, British Columbia	Rogers Arena	18,630	1970
	Vegas Golden Knights	Las Vegas, Nevada	T-Mobile Arena	17,368	2017

League Business

Membership Changes

• The Vegas Golden Knights are added to the league as an expansion team becoming the league's 31st member.

2018 Winter Olympics

The NHL decided on April 3, 2017 that the league will not change its schedule to accommodated players being able to play in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.  The NHL had shut down the league for the previous five Olympic games. Several players have vowed to participate anyway, most notably Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin; provided the teams that hold their contracts do not object to each player's participation, the options the league has for stopping players from participating without running afoul of the National Hockey League Players' Association are limited, and the league has not yet prescribed any potential punishment for such a scenario.

All Star Game

The 63rd National Hockey League All-Star Game will be held in Tampa, Florida at Amalie Arena, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning, on January 28, 2018. The format will not change and will follow the format used in two previous All-Star games.

Salary cap

On June 18, 2017, the National Hockey League Players' Association announced that the salary cap would be set at $75 million for the 2017–18 season.

Centennial celebration

The NHL's centennial commemorations will continue into the 2017–18 season, as its 100th season of play. On March 17, 2017, the NHL announced that it would hold an outdoor game between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens on December 16, 2017 to mark the 100th anniversary of their inaugural NHL game. The Toronto Maple Leafs will host the Carolina Hurricanes on December 19 at the start time of 2 p.m. to mark the 100th anniversary of the first NHL game played by their predecessor franchise, the Toronto Arenas.

Pre-season games in China

On March 30, 2017, it was announced that the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks would play two pre-season games in China on September 21 and 23 called the 2017 NHL China Games. These were the first NHL games played in China.

International games

Two regular season games will be played in Stockholm, Sweden as part of the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series, the league announced on March 24, 2017. The games will be played between the Colorado Avalanche and the Ottawa Senators at the Ericsson Globe on November 10 and 11, 2017. This is the first NHL game to be held outside North America since the 2011 NHL Premiere contest.

Outdoor games

• The 100 Classic will be held on December 16, 2017 at TD Place Stadium in Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, featuring the Montreal Canadiens against the Ottawa Senators.
• The Winter Classic will be held on January 1, 2018 at Citi Field in Flushing, New York, with the New York Rangers playing the Buffalo Sabres.
• The Stadium Series will be held on March 3, 2018 at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, featuring two of last seasons playoff teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals.

Arena changes

• The Detroit Red Wings will move to Little Caesars Arena, replacing their longtime home, the Joe Louis Arena.
• The Vegas Golden Knights will play their inaugural season at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
• The Winnipeg Jets home arena was renamed from MTS Centre to Bell MTS Place following Bell Mobility's acquisition of previous rights holders, Manitoba Telecom Services.

Standings

Eastern Conference

Metropolitan Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Washington Capitals	82	49	26	7	46	259	239	105
Pittsburgh Penguins	82	47	29	6	45	272	250	100
Philadelphia Flyers	82	42	26	14	40	251	243	98

Atlantic Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Tampa Bay Lightning	82	54	23	5	48	296	236	113
Boston Bruins	82	50	20	12	47	270	214	112
Toronto Maple Leafs	82	49	26	7	42	277	232	105

Eastern Conference Wild Card

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Columbus Blue Jackets	82	45	30	7	39	242	230	97
New Jersey Devils	82	44	29	9	39	248	244	97
Florida Panthers	82	44	30	8	41	248	246	96
Carolina Hurricanes	82	36	35	11	33	228	256	83
New York Islanders	82	35	37	10	32	264	296	80
New York Rangers	82	34	39	9	31	231	268	77
Detroit Red Wings	82	30	39	13	25	217	255	73
Montreal Canadiens	82	29	40	13	27	209	264	71
Ottawa Senators	82	28	43	11	26	221	291	67
Buffalo Sabres	82	25	45	12	24	199	280	62

Western Conference

Central Division Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Nashville Predators	82	53	18	11	47	267	211	117
Winnipeg Jets	82	52	20	10	48	277	218	114
Minnesota Wild	82	45	26	11	42	253	232	101

Pacific Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Vegas Golden Knights	82	51	24	7	47	272	228	109
Anaheim Ducks	82	44	25	13	40	235	216	101
San Jose Sharks	82	45	27	10	40	252	229	100

Western Conference Wild Card

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Los Angeles Kings	82	45	29	8	43	239	203	98
Colorado Avalanche	82	43	30	9	41	257	237	95
St. Louis Blues	82	44	32	6	41	226	222	94
Dallas Stars	82	42	32	8	37	235	225	92
Calgary Flames	82	37	35	10	34	218	248	84
Edmonton Oilers	82	36	40	6	31	234	263	78
Chicago Blackhawks	82	33	39	10	32	229	256	76
Vancouver Canucks	82	31	40	11	31	218	264	73
Arizona Coyotes	82	29	41	12	27	208	256	70

Stanley Cup Playoffs

Format

The top three teams in each division qualify for the playoffs. The next two best records in each conference also qualify as wildcard teams. The wild card team with the fewer points plays the team with the best record in the conference regardless of division. The other wild card team plays the other division winner. The wild card team then stays in that division's playoffs. The division semifinal winners meet in the division finals. The two division winners in each conference meet in the conference finals. The two conference winners meet in the Stanley Cup final. All series are best-of-seven.

Atlantic Division Semifinals

• Tampa Bay Lightning defeated New Jersey Devils 4 games to 1
• Boston Bruins defeated Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 3

In game 7, the Boston Bruins became the first team in NHL history to over come three one goal deficits in a game 7 and win the game in the deciding game with the Maple Leafs

Metropolitan Division Semifinals

• Washington Capitals defeated Columbus Blue Jackets 4 games to 2
• Pittsburgh Hornets defeated Philadelphia Flyers 4 games to 2

Central Division Semifinals

• Nashville Predators defeated Colorado Avalanche 4 games to 2
• Winnipeg Jets defeated Minnesota Wild 4 games to 1

Pacific Division Semifinals

• Vegas Golden Knights defeated Los Angeles Kings 4 games to none
• San Jose Sharks defeated Anaheim Ducks 4 games to none

Atlantic Division Final

• Tampa Bay Lightning defeated Boston Bruins 4 games to 1

Metropolitan Division Final

• Washington Capitals defeated Pittsburgh Penguins 4 games to 2

Central Division Final

• Winnipeg Jets defeated Nashville Predators 4 games to 3

In game 7 Pekka Rinne became the faster goaltender pulled in a game 7 in NHL history when he was pulled at 10:31 of the first period after allowing 2 goals. Also in the series Mark Scheifele of the Jets scored 7 goals on the road which was the most road goals scored in any single playoff series since the 1926-27 season.

Pacific Division Final

• Vegas Golden Knights defeated San Jose Sharks 4 games to 2

With winning this series the Golden Knights become the third team to win two playoff series in their first season in the league following the 1917-18 NHL season when the Toronto Arenas won the Stanley Cup in the first NHL season and the St. Louis Blues reached the 1968 Stanley Cup Finals in an all expansion team Western Conference.

Eastern Conference Final

• Washington Capitals defeated Tampa Bay Lightning 4 games to 3

Western Conference Final

• Vegas Golden Knights defeated Winnipeg Jets 4 games to 1

With winning this series the Golden Knights become the first team ever to win three series in their first season in the NHL.

Stanley Cup Final

• Washington Capitals defeated Vegas Golden Knights 4 games to 1

The Washington Capitals win their first Stanley Cup. Alexander Ovechkin was named Conn Smythe Trophy winner as Stanley Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player

2018 Stanley Cup Champions Washington Capitals

2018 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin