2017–18 Winnipeg Jets season

2017–18 Winnipeg Jets
Division	2nd Central
Conference	2nd Western
2017–18 record	52–20–10
Home record	32–7–2
Road record	20–13–8
Goals for	277
Goals against	218
Team information
General manager	Kevin Cheveldayoff
Coach	Paul Maurice
Captain	Blake Wheeler
Alternate captains	Dustin Byfuglien Mark Scheifele
Arena	Bell MTS Place
Average attendance	15,321
Minor league affiliate(s)	Manitoba Moose (AHL) Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Patrik Laine (44)
Assists	Blake Wheeler (68)
Points	Blake Wheeler (91)
Penalty minutes	Dustin Byfuglien (112)
Plus/minus	Mark Scheifele (+19)
Wins	Connor Hellebuyck (44)
Goals against average	Connor Hellebuyck (2.36)

The 2017–18 Winnipeg Jets season was the 19th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997, and the seventh in Winnipeg, since the franchise relocated from Atlanta prior to the start of the 2011–12 NHL season. The Jets clinched their second playoff spot since relocating from Atlanta after beating the Nashville Predators 5–4 in a shootout on March 25, 2018. The Jets finished the season with 114 points, the second-best record in the NHL. Both are the best-ever finishes for both the Thrashers/Jets franchise and any Winnipeg-based NHL team.

On April 11, 2018, the Jets won their first playoff game in franchise history when they defeated the Minnesota Wild 3–2 ending an 8-game playoff losing streak. On April 20, 2018, the team won its first playoff series when they defeated the Wild 5–0 and advanced to the Second Round. They then took the Presidents' Trophy-winning Nashville Predators to seven games to advance to the Western Conference Final – the deepest playoff run for a Winnipeg-based NHL team. The original Jets only got as far as the second round during their run in Winnipeg, in 1985 and 1987. Their season would come to an end during the Western Conference Final where they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.

Standings

Central Division

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

Source: National Hockey League
p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Pre-season

The pre-season schedule was published on June 12, 2017.

2017 pre-season game log: 2–3–2 (Home: 2–1–1; Road: 0–2–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 18	Minnesota	3–2	Winnipeg	SO	Hellebuyck	15,294	0–0–1	Recap
2	September 20	Edmonton	4–1	Winnipeg		Mason	15,294	0–1–1	Recap
3	September 21	Winnipeg	0–1	Minnesota		Hellebuyck	16,518	0–2–1	Recap
4	September 23	Winnipeg	2–6	Edmonton		Hutchinson	18,347	0–3–1	Recap
5	September 25	Calgary	2–5	Winnipeg		Mason	15,294	1–3–1	Recap
6	September 27	Ottawa	3–5	Winnipeg		Hellebuyck	15,294	2–3–1	Recap
7	September 30	Winnipeg	2–3	Calgary	SO	Mason	19,289	2–3–2	Recap

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 22, 2017.

2017–18 game log
October: 6–3–2 (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 3–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 4 Toronto 7–2 Winnipeg Mason 15,321 0–1–0 0 Recap 2 October 7 Winnipeg 3–6 Calgary Mason 19,289 0–2–0 0 Recap 3 October 9 Winnipeg 5–2 Edmonton Hellebuyck 18,347 1–2–0 2 Recap 4 October 12 Winnipeg 4–2 Vancouver Hellebuyck 15,589 2–2–0 4 Recap 5 October 14 Carolina 1–2 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 3–2–0 6 Recap 6 October 17 Columbus 5–2 Winnipeg Mason 15,321 3–3–0 6 Recap 7 October 20 Minnesota 3–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 4–3–0 8 Recap 8 October 26 Winnipeg 1–2 Pittsburgh OT Hellebuyck 18,445 4–3–1 9 Recap 9 October 27 Winnipeg 1–2 Columbus OT Mason 14,224 4–3–2 10 Recap 10 October 29 Pittsburgh 1–7 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 5–3–2 12 Recap 11 October 31 Winnipeg 2–1 Minnesota Hellebuyck 18,814 6–3–2 14 Recap
November: 9–3–2 (Home: 5–0–1; Road: 4–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 12 November 2 Dallas 2–5 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 7–3–2 16 Recap 13 November 4 Montreal 5–4 Winnipeg OT Hellebuyck 15,321 7–3–3 17 Recap 14 November 6 Winnipeg 4–1 Dallas Hellebuyck 17,895 8–3–3 19 Recap 15 November 10 Winnipeg 2–5 Vegas Hellebuyck 18,110 8–4–3 19 Recap 16 November 11 Winnipeg 4–1 Arizona Mason 16,078 9–4–3 21 Recap 17 November 14 Arizona 1–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 10–4–3 23 Recap 18 November 16 Philadelphia 2–3 Winnipeg SO Hellebuyck 15,321 11–4–3 25 Recap 19 November 18 New Jersey 2–5 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 12–4–3 27 Recap 20 November 20 Winnipeg 3–5 Nashville Hellebuyck 17,113 12–5–3 27 Recap 21 November 22 Winnipeg 2–1 Los Angeles Mason 18,230 13–5–3 29 Recap 22 November 24 Winnipeg 4–1 Anaheim Hellebuyck 16,035 14–5–3 31 Recap 23 November 25 Winnipeg 0–4 San Jose Mason 17,189 14–6–3 31 Recap 24 November 27 Minnesota 2–7 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 15–6–3 33 Recap 25 November 29 Winnipeg 2–3 Colorado OT Hellebuyck 13,017 15–6–4 34 Recap
December: 8–5–2 (Home: 6–1–0; Road: 2–4–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 26 December 1 Vegas 4–7 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 16–6–4 36 Recap 27 December 3 Ottawa 0–5 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 17–6–4 38 Recap 28 December 5 Winnipeg 1–5 Detroit Hellebuyck 19,515 17–7–4 38 Recap 29 December 7 Winnipeg 4–6 Florida Comrie 10,768 17–8–4 38 Recap 30 December 9 Winnipeg 3–4 Tampa Bay OT Hellebuyck 19,092 17–8–5 39 Recap 31 December 11 Vancouver 1–5 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 18–8–5 41 Recap 32 December 14 Chicago 5–1 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 18–9–5 41 Recap 33 December 16 Winnipeg 0–2 St. Louis Mason 17,964 18–10–5 41 Recap 34 December 17 St. Louis 0–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 19–10–5 43 Recap 35 December 19 Winnipeg 6–4 Nashville Hellebuyck 17,432 20–10–5 45 Recap 36 December 21 Winnipeg 1–2 Boston SO Hellebuyck 17,565 20–10–6 46 Recap 37 December 23 Winnipeg 2–5 NY Islanders Mason 13,589 20–11–6 46 Recap 38 December 27 Edmonton 3–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 21–11–6 48 Recap 39 December 29 NY Islanders 2–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 22–11–6 50 Recap 40 December 31 Winnipeg 5–0 Edmonton Hellebuyck 18,347 23–11–6 52 Recap
January: 7–2–2 (Home: 4–0–0; Road: 3–2–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 41 January 2 Winnipeg 2–3 Colorado OT Hellebuyck 13,058 23–11–7 53 Recap 42 January 5 Buffalo 3–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 24–11–7 55 Recap 43 January 7 San Jose 1–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 25–11–7 57 Recap 44 January 9 Winnipeg 7–4 Buffalo Mason 17,398 26–11–7 59 Recap 45 January 12 Winnipeg 1–2 Chicago Hellebuyck 21,588 26–12–7 59 Recap 46 January 13 Winnipeg 1–4 Minnesota Hellebuyck 19,207 26–13–7 59 Recap 47 January 20 Winnipeg 2–1 Calgary SO Hellebuyck 19,289 27–13–7 61 Recap 48 January 21 Vancouver 0–1 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 28–13–7 63 Recap 49 January 23 Winnipeg 5–4 San Jose OT Hellebuyck 17,237 29–13–7 65 Recap 50 January 25 Winnipeg 3–4 Anaheim SO Hellebuyck 17,174 29–13–8 66 Recap 51 January 30 Tampa Bay 1–3 Winnipeg Hutchinson 15,321 30–13–8 68 Recap
February: 7–4–1 (Home: 5–4–1; Road: 2–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 52 February 1 Vegas 3–2 Winnipeg OT Hellebuyck 15,321 30–13–9 69 Recap 53 February 3 Colorado 0–3 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 31–13–9 71 Recap 54 February 6 Arizona 3–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 32–13–9 73 Recap 55 February 9 St. Louis 5–2 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 32–14–9 73 Recap 56 February 11 NY Rangers 3–1 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 32–15–9 73 Recap 57 February 13 Washington 3–4 Winnipeg OT Hellebuyck 15,321 33–15–9 75 Recap 58 February 16 Colorado 1–6 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 34–15–9 77 Recap 59 February 18 Florida 2–7 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 35–15–9 79 Recap 60 February 20 Los Angeles 4–3 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 35–16–9 79 Recap 61 February 23 Winnipeg 4–0 St. Louis Hellebuyck 18,912 36–16–9 81 Recap 62 February 24 Winnipeg 5–3 Dallas Hutchinson 18,532 37–16–9 83 Recap 63 February 27 Nashville 6–5 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 37–17–9 83 Recap
March: 11–3–1 (Home: 7–0–0; Road: 4–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 64 March 2 Detroit 3–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 38–17–9 85 Recap 65 March 4 Winnipeg 3–2 Carolina Hellebuyck 11,407 39–17–9 87 Recap 66 March 6 Winnipeg 3–0 NY Rangers Mason 18,006 40–17–9 89 Recap 67 March 8 Winnipeg 3–2 New Jersey Hellebuyck 14,023 41–17–9 91 Recap 68 March 10 Winnipeg 1–2 Philadelphia Hellebuyck 19,929 41–18–9 91 Recap 69 March 12 Winnipeg 2–3 Washington OT Hellebuyck 18,506 41–18–10 92 Recap 70 March 13 Winnipeg 1–3 Nashville Hutchinson 17,534 41–19–10 92 Recap 71 March 15 Chicago 2–6 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 42–19–10 94 Recap 72 March 18 Dallas 2–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 43–19–10 96 Recap 73 March 20 Los Angeles 1–2 Winnipeg OT Comrie 15,321 44–19–10 98 Recap 74 March 23 Anaheim 2–3 Winnipeg OT Hellebuyck 15,321 45–19–10 100 Recap 75 March 25 Nashville 4–5 Winnipeg SO Hellebuyck 15,321 46–19–10 102 Recap 76 March 27 Boston 4–5 Winnipeg SO Hellebuyck 15,321 47–19–10 104 Recap 77 March 29 Winnipeg 2–6 Chicago Comrie 21,839 47–20–10 104 Recap 78 March 31 Winnipeg 3–1 Toronto Hellebuyck 19,101 48–20–10 106 Recap
April: 4–0–0 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 2–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 79 April 2 Winnipeg 6–5 Ottawa Hellebuyck 17,122 49–20–10 108 Recap 80 April 3 Winnipeg 5–4 Montreal OT Mason 21,302 50–20–10 110 Recap 81 April 5 Calgary 1–2 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 51–20–10 112 Recap 82 April 7 Chicago 1–4 Winnipeg Hellebuyck 15,321 52–20–10 114 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs

Player statistics

Final Stats

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Blake Wheeler	81	23	68	91	13	52
Patrik Laine	82	44	26	70	8	24
Nikolaj Ehlers	82	29	31	60	14	26
Mark Scheifele	60	23	37	60	19	18
Kyle Connor	76	31	26	57	8	16
Dustin Byfuglien	69	8	37	45	15	112
Bryan Little	82	16	27	43	2	28
Mathieu Perreault	70	17	22	39	4	38
Tyler Myers	82	6	30	36	9	48
Joel Armia	79	12	17	29	3	22
Andrew Copp	82	9	19	28	17	14
Josh Morrissey	81	7	19	26	15	47
Jacob Trouba	55	3	21	24	9	34
Adam Lowry	45	8	13	21	9	8
Brandon Tanev	61	8	10	18	13	18
Jack Roslovic	31	5	9	14	5	2
Ben Chiarot	57	2	12	14	15	32
Matt Hendricks	60	5	8	13	−1	39
Paul Stastny†	19	4	9	13	6	4
Dmitry Kulikov	62	3	8	11	6	22
Tobias Enstrom	43	1	5	6	8	20
Joe Morrow†	18	1	4	5	7	0
Marko Dano	23	2	1	3	−2	6
Shawn Matthias	27	1	2	3	−1	10
Nic Petan	15	2	0	2	0	6
Tucker Poolman	24	1	1	2	2	0
Sami Niku	1	1	0	1	0	0
Brendan Lemieux	9	1	0	1	2	21

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Blake Wheeler	17	3	18	21	2	10
Mark Scheifele	17	14	6	20	6	10
Dustin Byfuglien	17	5	11	16	2	20
Paul Stastny	17	6	9	15	5	0
Patrik Laine	17	5	7	12	2	4
Kyle Connor	17	3	7	10	2	2
Tyler Myers	16	4	3	7	7	8
Nikolaj Ehlers	15	0	7	7	4	2
Brandon Tanev	17	4	2	6	−4	11
Bryan Little	17	1	5	6	5	2
Jacob Trouba	17	2	1	3	6	17
Andrew Copp	16	1	2	3	−1	4
Ben Chiarot	16	0	3	3	3	15
Jack Roslovic	10	0	3	3	4	2
Joel Armia	13	2	0	2	2	6
Josh Morrissey	16	1	1	2	2	6
Adam Lowry	17	0	2	2	−4	8
Mathieu Perreault	9	1	0	1	1	4
Joe Morrow	6	1	0	1	2	14
Dmitri Kulikov	1	0	0	0	−1	2
Tucker Poolman	2	0	0	0	1	0
Matt Hendricks	5	0	0	0	0	4
Tobias Enstrom	11	0	0	0	−2	2

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Connor Hellebuyck	67	64	3,965:54	44	11	9	156	2.36	2048	.924	6	0	2	0
Steve Mason	13	12	684:53	5	6	1	37	3.24	392	.906	1	0	1	0
Michael Hutchinson	3	3	128:45	2	1	0	7	3.26	75	.907	0	0	1	0
Eric Comrie	3	3	180:26	1	2	0	12	3.99	94	.872	0	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Connor Hellebuyck	17	17	1,015:07	9	8	40	2.36	511	.922	2	0	0	2
Steve Mason	1	0	20:00	0	0	0	0.00	7	1.000	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Jets. Statistics reflect time with the Jets only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Statistics reflect time with the Jets only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

The Jets have been involved in the following transactions during the 2017–18 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 21, 2017	To Vegas Golden Knights 1st-round pick in 2017 3rd-round pick in 2019	To Winnipeg Jets CBJ's 1st-round pick in 2017 Expansion Draft considerations[a]
February 26, 2018	To St. Louis Blues Erik Foley Conditional 1st-round pick in 2018 Conditional 4th-round pick in 2020	To Winnipeg Jets Paul Stastny
February 26, 2018	To Montreal Canadiens 4th-round pick in 2018	To Winnipeg Jets Joe Morrow

Notes:

• ^[a] The Vegas Golden Knights selected Chris Thorburn in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Steve Mason	Philadelphia Flyers	2-year, $8.2 million
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Dmitri Kulikov	Buffalo Sabres	3-year, $12.99 million
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Michael Sgarbossa	Florida Panthers	1-year, $650,000
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Buddy Robinson	San Jose Sharks	1-year, $650,000
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Cameron Schilling	Los Angeles Kings	1-year, $650,000
August 27, 2017 (2017-08-27)	Matt Hendricks	Edmonton Oilers	1-year, $700,000

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Paul Postma	Boston Bruins	1-year, $725,000
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Brenden Kichton	Carolina Hurricanes	1-year, $700,000
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Brian Strait	New Jersey Devils	1-year, $650,000
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Ondrej Pavelec	New York Rangers	1-year, $1.3 million
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Anthony Peluso	Washington Capitals	1-year, $650,000
August 18, 2017 (2017-08-18)	Quinton Howden	Dinamo Minsk	1-year
September 13, 2017 (2017-09-13)	Scott Kosmachuk	Hartford Wolf Pack	Unknown
October 11, 2017 (2017-10-11)	Mark Stuart	Adler Mannheim	1-year

Claimed via waivers

Player	Previous team	Date	Ref

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date	Ref

Lost via retirement

Date	Player	Ref

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
June 24, 2017 (2017-06-24)	Ben Chiarot	2-year, $2.8 million
July 10, 2017 (2017-07-10)	Brandon Tanev	1-year, $700,000
July 12, 2017 (2017-07-12)	Andrew Copp	2-year, $2 million
July 13, 2017 (2017-07-13)	Mason Appleton	3-year, $2.275 million entry-level contract
July 17, 2017 (2017-07-17)	JC Lipon	1-year, $650,000
July 24, 2017 (2017-07-24)	Connor Hellebuyck	1-year, $2.25 million
September 14, 2017 (2017-09-14)	Bryan Little	6-year, $31.746 million contract extension
September 25, 2017 (2017-09-25)	Luke Green	3-year, $2.54 million entry-level contract
October 4, 2017 (2017-10-04)	Nikolaj Ehlers	7-year, $42 million
March 25, 2018 (2018-03-25)	C. J. Suess	1-year, $925,000 entry-level contract
May 19, 2018 (2018-05-19)	Mikhail Berdin	3-year, entry-level contract

Draft picks

See also: List of Winnipeg Jets draft picks

Below are the Winnipeg Jets' 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	241	Kristian Vesalainen	LW	Finland	Frölunda HC (SHL)
2	43	Dylan Samberg	D	United States	Hermantown High School (USHS)
3	74	Johnny Kovacevic	D	Canada	Merrimack College (Hockey East)
4	105	Santeri Virtanen	C	Finland	TPS U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga)
5	136	Leon Gawanke	D	Germany	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
6	167	Arvid Holm	G	Sweden	Karlskrona HK (J20 SuperElit)
7	198	Skyler McKenzie	C	Canada	Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
7	2112	Croix Evingson	D	United States	Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)

Draft notes:

1. The Columbus Blue Jackets' first-round pick went to the Winnipeg Jets as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that sent a first-round pick in 2017, a third-round pick in 2019 to Vegas and ensured that Vegas selected Chris Thorburn in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft from Winnipeg in exchange for this pick.
2. The Montreal Canadiens' seventh-round pick went to the Winnipeg Jets as the result of a trade on June 25, 2016 that sent a seventh-round pick in 2016 to Montreal in exchange for this pick.