2017–18 Chicago Blackhawks season
National Hockey League team season
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The 2017–18 Chicago Blackhawks season was the 92nd season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on September 25, 1926. The Blackhawks finished the season with 76 points (19 points out of the final playoff spot) to finish in last place in the Central Division of the Western Conference. The season marked the first time since the 2007–08 season where the Blackhawks failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs and the team's worst regular season performance since 2006–07.
| 2017–18 Chicago Blackhawks | |
|---|---|
| Division | 7th Central |
| Conference | 13th Western |
| 2017–18 record | 33–39–10 |
| Home record | 18–18–5 |
| Road record | 15–21–5 |
| Goals for | 229 |
| Goals against | 256 |
| Team information | |
| General manager | Stan Bowman |
| Coach | Joel Quenneville |
| Captain | Jonathan Toews |
| Alternate captains | Duncan Keith Brent Seabrook |
| Arena | United Center |
| Average attendance | 21,653[1] |
| Minor league affiliates | Rockford IceHogs (AHL) Indy Fuel (ECHL) |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Alex DeBrincat (28) |
| Assists | Patrick Kane (49) |
| Points | Patrick Kane (76) |
| Penalty minutes | John Hayden (54) |
| Plus/minus | Alex DeBrincat (+6) |
| Wins | Corey Crawford (16) |
| Goals against average | Corey Crawford (2.27) |
Prior to the season, the Blackhawks made several moves in an attempt to make up for the prior season's playoff disappointment. As a result, the team traded their second-leading goal and point scorer from the prior season, Artemi Panarin, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for reacquiring Brandon Saad.[2] In addition, the team traded arguably their most reliable defenseman, Niklas Hjalmarsson, to the Arizona Coyotes for defenseman Connor Murphy.[3] Numerous other moves were made in an attempt to change the team.[4][5] Also, forward Marian Hossa announced he would not play for the Blackhawks during the season due to a skin condition that was aggravated by wearing hockey equipment.[6] As a result, Hossa was placed on long-term injured reserve.[7]
Patrick Kane led the team in scoring with 76 points while rookie forward Alex DeBrincat led the team in goals with 28.[8] The Blackhawks had five players score 20 or more goals: DeBrincat, Kane (27), Nick Schmaltz (21), Artem Anisimov (20) and Jonathan Toews (20). Goalie Corey Crawford only played 28 games, missing the final 47 games of the season with an undisclosed injury.[9]
Despite the disappointing season, team president John McDonough announced that general manager Stan Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville would return for the 2018–19 season.[10][11]
Standings
| Pos | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | p – Nashville Predators | 82 | 53 | 18 | 11 | 47 | 267 | 211 | +56 | 117 |
| 2 | x – Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 52 | 20 | 10 | 48 | 277 | 218 | +59 | 114 |
| 3 | x – Minnesota Wild | 82 | 45 | 26 | 11 | 42 | 253 | 232 | +21 | 101 |
| 4 | x – Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 41 | 257 | 237 | +20 | 95 |
| 5 | St. Louis Blues | 82 | 44 | 32 | 6 | 41 | 226 | 222 | +4 | 94 |
| 6 | Dallas Stars | 82 | 42 | 32 | 8 | 38 | 235 | 225 | +10 | 92 |
| 7 | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 33 | 39 | 10 | 32 | 229 | 256 | −27 | 76 |
| Pos | Div | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PA | x – Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 45 | 29 | 8 | 43 | 239 | 203 | +36 | 98 |
| 2 | CE | x – Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 41 | 257 | 237 | +20 | 95 |
| 3 | CE | St. Louis Blues | 82 | 44 | 32 | 6 | 41 | 226 | 222 | +4 | 94 |
| 4 | CE | Dallas Stars | 82 | 42 | 32 | 8 | 38 | 235 | 225 | +10 | 92 |
| 5 | PA | Calgary Flames | 82 | 37 | 35 | 10 | 35 | 218 | 248 | −30 | 84 |
| 6 | PA | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 36 | 40 | 6 | 31 | 234 | 263 | −29 | 78 |
| 7 | CE | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 33 | 39 | 10 | 32 | 229 | 256 | −27 | 76 |
| 8 | PA | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 31 | 40 | 11 | 31 | 218 | 264 | −46 | 73 |
| 9 | PA | Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 27 | 208 | 256 | −48 | 70 |
Schedule and results
Pre-season
The Blackhawks published their preseason schedule on June 8, 2017.[14]
| 2017 preseason game log: 4–2–0 (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 2–1–0) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Date | Opponent | Score | OT | Decision | Arena | Attendance | Record | Recap |
| 1 | September 19 | @ Columbus | 5–2 | Forsberg | Nationwide Arena | 10,548 | 1–0–0 | W1 | |
| 2 | September 21 | Detroit | 6–1 | Crawford | United Center | 20,342 | 2–0–0 | W2 | |
| 3 | September 23 | Columbus | 2–3 | Berube | United Center | 20,395 | 2–1–0 | L1 | |
| 4 | September 25 | @ Boston | 2–4 | Crawford | TD Garden | 16,374 | 2–2–0 | L2 | |
| 5 | September 28 | @ Detroit | 4–2 | Forsberg | Little Caesars Arena | 17,089 | 3–2–0 | W1 | |
| 6 | September 30 | Boston | 1–0 | Crawford | United Center | 20,703 | 4–2–0 | W2 | |
Regular season
The Blackhawks released their regular season schedule on June 22, 2017.[15]
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Detailed records
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Player statistics
Final Stats[16]
Skaters
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Kane | 82 | 27 | 49 | 76 | −20 | 30 |
| Alex DeBrincat | 82 | 28 | 24 | 52 | 6 | 6 |
| Nick Schmaltz | 78 | 21 | 31 | 52 | 1 | 18 |
| Jonathan Toews | 74 | 20 | 32 | 52 | −1 | 47 |
| Brandon Saad | 82 | 18 | 17 | 35 | −10 | 14 |
| Duncan Keith | 82 | 2 | 30 | 32 | −29 | 28 |
| Artem Anisimov | 72 | 20 | 11 | 31 | −17 | 22 |
| Brent Seabrook | 81 | 7 | 19 | 26 | −3 | 38 |
| Ryan Hartman‡ | 57 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 5 | 58 |
| Vinnie Hinostroza | 50 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 5 | 10 |
| Patrick Sharp | 70 | 10 | 11 | 21 | −16 | 14 |
| Jan Rutta | 57 | 6 | 14 | 20 | −1 | 22 |
| Richard Panik‡ | 37 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 3 | 26 |
| Erik Gustafsson | 35 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 6 |
| Jordan Oesterle | 55 | 5 | 10 | 15 | −11 | 8 |
| Connor Murphy | 76 | 2 | 12 | 14 | −3 | 34 |
| John Hayden | 47 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 54 |
| Gustav Forsling | 41 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −2 | 8 |
| Tommy Wingels‡ | 57 | 7 | 5 | 12 | −10 | 43 |
| David Kampf | 46 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −9 | 12 |
| Tomas Jurco | 29 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 12 |
| Lance Bouma | 53 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 36 |
| Anthony Duclair† | 23 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 6 |
| Michal Kempny‡ | 31 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 12 |
| Cody Franson | 23 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 8 |
| Tanner Kero | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Carl Dahlstrom | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −2 | 0 |
| Dylan Sikura | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Matthew Highmore | 13 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −4 | 0 |
| Andreas Martinsen | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 17 |
| Blake Hillman | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| Victor Ejdsell | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
Goaltenders
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Crawford | 28 | 27 | 1584 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 60 | 2.27 | 842 | .929 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anton Forsberg | 35 | 30 | 1715 | 10 | 16 | 4 | 85 | 2.97 | 921 | .908 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jeff Glass | 15 | 13 | 821 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 46 | 3.36 | 452 | .898 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jean-Francois Berube | 13 | 10 | 667 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 42 | 3.78 | 398 | .894 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Collin Delia | 2 | 2 | 106 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4.04 | 63 | .889 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Scott Foster | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 7 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blackhawks. Stats reflect time with Blackhawks only.
‡Left team mid-season. Stats reflect time with Blackhawks only.
Awards and honours
Awards
|
|
Milestones
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
|---|---|---|
| Alex DeBrincat | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | October 5, 2017 |
| Jan Rutta | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | October 5, 2017 |
| Patrick Sharp | 600 career NHL points | October 5, 2017 |
| Jan Rutta | 1st career NHL goal | October 7, 2017 |
| Alex DeBrincat | 1st career NHL goal | October 10, 2017 |
| John Hayden | 1st career NHL fight | October 12, 2017 |
| Ryan Hartman | 100th career NHL game | November 9, 2017 |
| Richard Panik | 100th career NHL point | November 15, 2017 |
| Artem Anisimov | 1st career NHL hat trick | November 15, 2017 |
| Alex DeBrincat | 1st career NHL hat trick | November 27, 2017 |
| Tommy Wingels | 400th career NHL game | December 10, 2017 |
| Patrick Sharp | 900th career NHL game | December 12, 2017 |
| Patrick Kane | 300th career NHL goal | December 24, 2017 |
| David Kampf | 1st career NHL game | December 28, 2017 |
| Jeff Glass | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL start 1st career NHL win | December 29, 2017 |
| Jordan Oesterle | 1st career NHL goal | December 29, 2017 |
| Nick Schmaltz | 100th career NHL game | December 29, 2017 |
| David Kampf | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | January 3, 2018 |
| David Kampf | 1st career NHL goal | January 12, 2018 |
| Erik Gustafsson | 1st career NHL goal | January 20, 2018 |
| Patrick Kane | 800th career NHL point | January 20, 2018 |
| Artem Anisimov | 300th career NHL point | February 8, 2018 |
| Carl Dahlstrom | 1st career NHL game | February 10, 2018 |
| Carl Dahlstrom | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | February 17, 2018 |
| Patrick Kane | 500th career NHL assist | February 17, 2018 |
| Patrick Kane | 800th career NHL game | February 19, 2018 |
| Joel Quenneville | 1,600th career NHL regular season game coached | February 21, 2018 |
| Matthew Highmore | 1st career NHL game | March 1, 2018 |
| Matthew Highmore | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | March 10, 2018 |
| Joel Quenneville | 2nd all time in NHL regular season games coached (1,608 games) | March 11, 2018 |
| Victor Ejdsell | 1st career NHL game | March 26, 2018 |
| Dylan Sikura | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | March 29, 2018 |
| Collin Delia | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL start 1st career NHL win | March 29, 2018 |
| Brent Seabrook | 1,000th career NHL game | March 29, 2018 |
| Scott Foster | 1st career NHL game | March 29, 2018 |
| Victor Ejdsell | 1st career NHL point 1st career NHL assist | March 29, 2018 |
| Blake Hillman | 1st career NHL game | March 30, 2018 |
| Blake Hillman | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | April 4, 2018 |
Transactions
The Blackhawks have been involved in the following transactions during the 2017–18 season.
Trades
| Date | Details | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 23, 2017 | To Arizona Coyotes Niklas Hjalmarsson |
To Chicago Blackhawks Connor Murphy Laurent Dauphin |
[21] |
| June 23, 2017 | To Columbus Blue Jackets Artemi Panarin Tyler Motte NYI's 6th-round pick in 2017 |
To Chicago Blackhawks Brandon Saad Anton Forsberg 5th-round pick in 2018 |
[22] |
| July 2, 2017 | To Vegas Golden Knights Marcus Kruger |
To Chicago Blackhawks Future considerations |
[23] |
| October 4, 2017 | To Montreal Canadiens Kyle Baun |
To Chicago Blackhawks Andreas Martinsen |
[24] |
| January 10, 2018 | To Arizona Coyotes Laurent Dauphin Richard Panik |
To Chicago Blackhawks Adam Clendening Anthony Duclair |
[25] |
| February 15, 2018 | To Ottawa Senators Ville Pokka |
To Chicago Blackhawks Chris DiDomenico |
[26] |
| February 19, 2018 | To Washington Capitals Michal Kempny |
To Chicago Blackhawks Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2018 |
[27] |
| February 26, 2018 | To Nashville Predators Ryan Hartman 5th-round pick in 2018 |
To Chicago Blackhawks Victor Ejdsell 1st-round pick in 2018 4th-round pick in 2018 |
[28] |
| February 26, 2018 | To Boston Bruins Tommy Wingels |
To Chicago Blackhawks Conditional 5th-round pick in 2019 |
[29] |
Free agents acquired
|
Free agents lost
|
Claimed via waivers
|
Lost via waivers
|
Players released
|
Lost via retirement
|
Player signings
| Date | Player | Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 26, 2017 | Anton Forsberg | 2-year, $1.5 million | [52] |
| June 26, 2017 | Tomas Jurco | 1-year, $800,000 | [52] |
| June 27, 2017 | Ville Pokka | 1-year, $650,000 | [53] |
| July 14, 2017 | Erik Gustafsson | 1-year, $650,000 | [54] |
| March 6, 2018 | Erik Gustafsson | 2-year, $2.4 million contract extension | [37] |
| March 8, 2018 | Jan Rutta | 1-year, $2.3 million contract extension | [55] |
| March 26, 2018 | Dylan Sikura | 2-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract | [56] |
| March 26, 2018 | Joni Tuulola | 2-year, $1.85 million entry-level contract | [57] |
| March 27, 2018 | Blake Hillman | 2-year, $1.85 million entry-level contract | [58] |
| April 13, 2018 | Dennis Gilbert | 3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract | [59] |
| May 21, 2018 | Lucas Carlsson | 3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract | [38] |
| June 7, 2018 | Andreas Martinsen | 1-year, $650,000 contract extension | [60] |
| June 12, 2018 | Henri Jokiharju | 3-year, $3.8375 million entry-level contract | [61] |
| June 15, 2018 | John Hayden | 2-year, $1.5 million contract extension | [62] |
| June 15, 2018 | Vinnie Hinostroza | 2-year, $3 million contract extension | [63] |
Draft picks
Below are the Chicago Blackhawks' selections at the 2017 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 23 and 24, 2017 at the United Center in Chicago.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 291 | Henri Jokiharju | D |  Finland |
Portland Winterhawks (WHL) |
| 2 | 57 | Ian Mitchell | D |  Canada |
Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL) |
| 3 | 702 | Andrei Altybarmakyan | RW |  Russia |
SKA-Neva St. Petersburg (VHL) |
| 3 | 903 | Evan Barratt | C |  United States |
U.S. National Team Development Program (USHL) |
| 4 | 1124 | Tim Soderlund | C |  Sweden |
Skellefteå AIK (SHL) |
| 4 | 119 | Roope Laavainen | D | Finland |
Jokerit U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga) |
| 5 | 1445 | Parker Foo | LW | Canada |
Brooks Bandits (AJHL) |
| 5 | 150 | Jakub Galvas | D |  Czech Republic |
HC Olomouc (Czech Extraliga) |
| 7 | 2156 | Josh Ess | D | United States |
Lakeville South (USHS) |
Notes:[64]
- The Anaheim Ducks' first-round pick went to the Chicago Blackhawks as the result of a trade on June 23, 2017, that sent a first-round pick in 2017 (26th overall) to Dallas in exchange for a third-round pick in 2017 (70th overall) and this pick.[65]
- The Dallas Stars' third-round pick went to the Chicago Blackhawks as the result of a trade on June 23, 2017, that sent a first-round pick in 2017 (26th overall) to Dallas in exchange for Anaheim's first-round pick in 2017 (29th overall) and this pick.[65]
- The Ottawa Senators' third-round pick went to the Chicago Blackhawks as the result of a trade on April 28, 2017, that sent Scott Darling to Carolina in exchange for this pick.[66]
- The San Jose Sharks' fourth-round pick went to the Chicago Blackhawks as the result of a trade on June 24, 2017, that sent Carolina's fifth-round pick and a sixth-round pick both in 2017 (135th and 181st overall) to Vancouver in exchange for this pick.[67]
- The St. Louis Blues' fifth-round pick went to the Chicago Blackhawks as the result of a trade on June 25, 2016, that sent a Florida's fifth-round pick in 2016 to St. Louis in exchange for this pick.[68]
- The Anaheim Ducks' seventh-round pick went to the Chicago Blackhawks as the result of a trade on February 29, 2016, that sent Corey Tropp to Anaheim in exchange for Tim Jackman and this pick.[69]