# 2017–18 SHL season

The 2017–18 SHL season was the 43rd season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The season began in September 2017, and the regular season ended in March 2018, to be followed by the Swedish Championship playoffs, as well as relegation playoffs. The league consisted of 14 teams. The only new addition for this season was Mora IK, who replaced Leksands IF after defeating them in the 2017 SHL qualifiers.

## Regular season
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Växjö Lakers | 52 | 34 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 169 | 104 | +65 | 116 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 2 | Djurgårdens IF | 52 | 23 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 153 | 111 | +42 | 95 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 3 | Frölunda HC | 52 | 25 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 159 | 137 | +22 | 94 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 4 | Färjestad BK | 52 | 23 | 6 | 6 | 17 | 174 | 145 | +29 | 87 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 5 | Skellefteå AIK | 52 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 145 | 118 | +27 | 87 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 6 | Malmö Redhawks | 52 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 152 | 138 | +14 | 86 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 7 | Luleå HF | 52 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 19 | 128 | 117 | +11 | 81 | Qualification to Round of 16 |
| 8 | HV71 | 52 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 19 | 145 | 143 | +2 | 81 | Qualification to Round of 16 |
| 9 | Linköpings HC | 52 | 21 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 135 | 130 | +5 | 78 | Qualification to Round of 16 |
| 10 | Brynäs IF | 52 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 26 | 132 | 148 | −16 | 70 | Qualification to Round of 16 |
| 11 | Rögle BK | 52 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 132 | 169 | −37 | 61 | |
| 12 | Örebro HK | 52 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 26 | 121 | 151 | −30 | 58 | |
| 13 | Mora IK | 52 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 32 | 104 | 163 | −59 | 51 | Qualification to Relegation playoffs |
| 14 | Karlskrona HK | 52 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 31 | 101 | 176 | −75 | 47 | Qualification to Relegation playoffs |

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

List shows the ten best skaters based on the number of points during the regular season. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
    As of 10 March 2018
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Elias Pettersson | Växjö Lakers | 44 | 24 | 32 | 56 | +27 | 14 |
| Ryan Lasch | Frölunda HC | 49 | 15 | 40 | 55 | +4 | 18 |
| Joakim Lindström | Skellefteå AIK | 46 | 16 | 34 | 50 | +17 | 63 |
| Pär Lindholm | Skellefteå AIK | 49 | 18 | 29 | 47 | +18 | 28 |
| Johan Ryno | Färjestad BK | 46 | 9 | 37 | 46 | +13 | 28 |
| Dick Axelsson | Färjestad BK | 48 | 21 | 24 | 45 | +8 | 44 |
| Aaron Palushaj | Brynäs IF | 51 | 19 | 26 | 45 | –3 | 42 |
| Victor Olofsson | Frölunda HC | 50 | 27 | 16 | 43 | +1 | 8 |
| Oscar Möller | Skellefteå AIK | 49 | 18 | 24 | 42 | +15 | 6 |
| Andrew Calof | Växjö Lakers | 52 | 24 | 17 | 41 | +17 | 14 |

#### Leading goaltenders

These are the leaders in GAA among goaltenders who played at least 40% of the team's minutes. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.
    As of 10 March 2018
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
| Adam Reideborn | Djurgårdens IF | 30 | 1817:38 | 48 | 2 | 93.70 | 1.58 |
| Gustaf Lindvall | Skellefteå AIK | 21 | 1256:33 | 38 | 2 | 93.04 | 1.81 |
| Viktor Fasth | Växjö Lakers | 33 | 1937:13 | 65 | 6 | 91.78 | 2.01 |
| Joel Lassinantti | Luleå HF | 34 | 1923:30 | 68 | 4 | 91.46 | 2.12 |
| Johan Mattsson | Frölunda HC | 24 | 1296:53 | 48 | 2 | 91.41 | 2.22 |
| Joacim Eriksson | Djurgårdens IF | 24 | 1343:03 | 51 | 2 | 91.27 | 2.28 |
| Jonas Gustavsson | Linköpings HC | 36 | 2047:10 | 80 | 3 | 91.63 | 2.34 |
| Oscar Alsenfelt | Malmö Redhawks | 36 | 2090:31 | 82 | 2 | 91.48 | 2.35 |
| Lars Haugen | Färjestad BK | 31 | 1794:26 | 71 | 1 | 91.53 | 2.37 |
| Joni Ortio | Skellefteå AIK | 31 | 1846:33 | 74 | 2 | 91.14 | 2.40 |

## Playoffs

Ten teams qualify for the playoffs. Teams 1–6 have a bye to the quarterfinals, while teams 7–10 meet each other in a preliminary playoff round.

### Playoff bracket

In the first round the 7th-ranked team will meet the 10th-ranked team and the 8th-ranked team will meet the 9th-ranked team for a place in the second round. In the second round, the top-ranked team will meet the lowest-ranked winner of the first round, the 2nd-ranked team will face the other winner of the first round, the 3rd-ranked team will face the 6th-ranked team, and the 4th-ranked team will face the 5th-ranked team. In the third round, the highest remaining seed is matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team is awarded home advantage. In the first round the meetings are played as best-of-three series and the rest is best-of-seven series that follows an alternating home team format: the higher-seeded team will play at home for games 1 and 3 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team will be at home for game 2 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).
| First round | First round | First round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | | 1 | Växjö Lakers | 4 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Luleå HF | 1 | 10 | Brynäs IF | 1 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Brynäs IF | 2 | | | | 1 | Växjö Lakers | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Malmö Redhawks | 0 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Djurgårdens IF | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| | | | 9 | Linköpings HC | 1 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| | | | | | | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | 1 | Växjö Lakers | 4 |
| | | | | | | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | 5 | Skellefteå AIK | 0 |
| | | | 3 | Frölunda HC | 2 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| 8 | HV71 | 0 | 6 | Malmö Redhawks | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| 9 | Linköpings HC | 2 | | | | 2 | Djurgårdens IF | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Skellefteå AIK | 4 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Färjestad BK | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Skellefteå AIK | 4 | | | | | | |

### Round of 16

The teams ranked 7 and 10, and the teams ranked 8 and 9, respectively, will face each other in a best-of-three series in order to qualify for the quarter-finals. The better-ranked teams in the two series will receive home advantage, i.e. two home games, if necessary. The two winners will take the two remaining quarter-final spots.

#### (7) Luleå HF vs. (10) Brynäs IF

* Brynäs IF won series 2–1

#### (8) HV71 vs. (9) Linköpings HC

* Linköpings HC won series 2–0

### Quarter-finals
#### (1) Växjö Lakers vs. (10) Brynäs IF

* Växjö Lakers won series 4–1

#### (2) Djurgårdens IF vs. (9) Linköpings HC

* Djurgårdens IF won series 4–1

#### (3) Frölunda HC vs. (6) Malmö Redhawks

* Malmö Redhawks won series 4–2

#### (4) Färjestad BK vs. (5) Skellefteå AIK

* Skellefteå AIK won series 4–2

### Semi-finals
#### (1) Växjö Lakers vs. (6) Malmö Redhawks

* Växjö Lakers won series 4–0

#### (2) Djurgårdens IF vs. (5) Skellefteå AIK

* Skellefteå AIK won series 4–2
* Note: Game 5 was played at the Ericsson Globe.

### Finals
#### (1) Växjö Lakers vs. (5) Skellefteå AIK

* Växjö Lakers won series 4–0

### Statistics
#### Playoff scoring leaders

List shows the ten best skaters based on the number of points during the playoffs. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown. Updated as of April 22, 2018.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Elias Pettersson | Växjö Lakers | 13 | 10 | 9 | 19 | +17 | 4 |
| Robert Rosén | Växjö Lakers | 10 | 8 | 6 | 14 | +16 | 6 |
| Oscar Möller | Skellefteå AIK | 16 | 8 | 5 | 13 | +5 | 6 |
| Pär Lindholm | Skellefteå AIK | 16 | 6 | 5 | 11 | +2 | 16 |
| Markus Ljungh | Djurgårdens IF | 11 | 4 | 7 | 11 | +4 | 4 |
| Eric Martinsson | Växjö Lakers | 13 | 3 | 8 | 11 | +15 | 18 |
| Tuomas Kiiskinen | Växjö Lakers | 13 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +16 | 6 |
| Patrik Lundh | Djurgårdens IF | 11 | 2 | 8 | 10 | +4 | 2 |
| Brendan Shinnimin | Växjö Lakers | 13 | 2 | 8 | 10 | +5 | 30 |
| Jonathan Pudas | Skellefteå AIK | 16 | 0 | 10 | 10 | +1 | 8 |

#### Playoff leading goaltenders

These are the leaders in GAA and save percentage among goaltenders who played at least 40% of the team's minutes. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded. Updated as of April 22, 2018.
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
| Fasth, Viktor Viktor Fasth | Växjö Lakers | 9 | 502:45 | 12 | 3 | 93.41 | 1.43 |
| Gunnarsson, Jonas Jonas Gunnarsson | Malmö Redhawks | 6 | 368:16 | 9 | 1 | 94.74 | 1.47 |
| Ortio, Joni Joni Ortio | Skellefteå AIK | 14 | 911:30 | 38 | 1 | 92.13 | 2.50 |
| Gustafsson, Johan Johan Gustafsson | Frölunda HC | 6 | 353:24 | 15 | 0 | 88.81 | 2.55 |
| Reideborn, Adam Adam Reideborn | Djurgårdens IF | 10 | 663:01 | 29 | 0 | 89.61 | 2.62 |
| Gustavsson, Jonas Jonas Gustavsson | Linköpings HC | 5 | 317:17 | 14 | 0 | 91.86 | 2.65 |
| Haugen, Lars Lars Haugen | Färjestad BK | 6 | 300:28 | 14 | 0 | 92.22 | 2.80 |

## SHL awards

* Guldhjälmen: Joakim Lindström, Skellefteå AIK
* Guldpucken: William Karlsson, Vegas Golden Knights
* Honken Trophy: Viktor Fasth, Växjö Lakers
* Håkan Loob Trophy: Victor Olofsson, Frölunda HC
* Rookie of the Year: Elias Pettersson, Växjö Lakers
* Salming Trophy: Lawrence Pilut, HV71
* Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy: Elias Pettersson, Växjö Lakers
* Guldpipan: Mikael Nord