# 2016–17 SHL season

The 2016–17 SHL season is the 42nd season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began in September 2016 and ended in March 2017. The playoffs follow the conclusion of the regular season.
Rögle BK and Leksands IF were forced to play in the SHL qualifiers to defend their SHL status. Rögle won their series against BIK Karlskoga in four games while Leksand lost to Mora IK over six games. Therefore, Mora were promoted to the SHL at the expense of Leksand.

## Regular season
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Växjö Lakers | 52 | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 165 | 118 | +47 | 99 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 2 | HV71 | 52 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 152 | 99 | +53 | 98 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 3 | Frölunda HC | 52 | 27 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 142 | 114 | +28 | 97 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 4 | Linköpings HC | 52 | 27 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 136 | 116 | +20 | 96 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 5 | Brynäs IF | 52 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 156 | 124 | +32 | 93 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 6 | Skellefteå AIK | 52 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 129 | 123 | +6 | 90 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 7 | Färjestad BK | 52 | 22 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 133 | 121 | +12 | 87 | Qualification to Round of 16 |
| 8 | Malmö Redhawks | 52 | 23 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 132 | 116 | +16 | 81 | Qualification to Round of 16 |
| 9 | Luleå HF | 52 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 118 | 136 | −18 | 70 | Qualification to Round of 16 |
| 10 | Djurgårdens IF | 52 | 15 | 7 | 11 | 19 | 110 | 128 | −18 | 70 | Qualification to Round of 16 |
| 11 | Karlskrona HK | 52 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 110 | 122 | −12 | 68 | |
| 12 | Örebro HK | 52 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 28 | 103 | 155 | −52 | 53 | |
| 13 | Rögle BK | 52 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 33 | 115 | 158 | −43 | 47 | Qualification to Relegation playoffs |
| 14 | Leksands IF | 52 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 34 | 93 | 164 | −71 | 43 | 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 9 March 2017
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Lindström, Joakim Joakim Lindström | Skellefteå AIK | 51 | 18 | 36 | 54 | –1 | 32 |
| Little, Broc Broc Little | Linköpings HC | 52 | 19 | 34 | 53 | +12 | 16 |
| Palola, Olli Olli Palola | Växjö Lakers | 52 | 21 | 27 | 48 | +19 | 18 |
| Lindblom, Oskar Oskar Lindblom | Brynäs IF | 52 | 22 | 25 | 47 | +16 | 18 |
| Jensen, Jesper Jesper Jensen | Brynäs IF | 50 | 9 | 33 | 42 | +13 | 14 |
| Bergström, Alexander Alexander Bergström | Karlskrona HK | 52 | 15 | 25 | 40 | –2 | 26 |
| Clark, Kevin Kevin Clark | Brynäs IF | 52 | 23 | 16 | 39 | +4 | 22 |
| Tömmernes, Henrik Henrik Tömmernes | Frölunda HC | 49 | 8 | 31 | 39 | +2 | 16 |
| Pettersson, Emil Emil Pettersson | Skellefteå/Växjö | 51 | 15 | 23 | 38 | +7 | 12 |
| Hudacek, Libor Libor Hudáček | Örebro HK | 49 | 14 | 24 | 38 | +6 | 38 |

#### 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 9 March 2017
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 |
| Söderström, Linus Linus Söderström | HV71 | 22 | 1340:39 | 30 | 6 | 94.32 | 1.34 |
| Alsenfelt, Oscar Oscar Alsenfelt | Malmö Redhawks | 34 | 1879:13 | 49 | 9 | 94.46 | 1.56 |
| Högberg, Marcus Marcus Högberg | Linköpings HC | 33 | 1999:36 | 63 | 4 | 93.18 | 1.89 |
| Jönsson, Johannes Johannes Jönsson | Karlskrona HK | 24 | 1424:35 | 46 | 2 | 93.77 | 1.94 |
| Reideborn, Adam Adam Reideborn | Djurgårdens IF | 25 | 1360:50 | 45 | 4 | 91.41 | 1.98 |
| Andren, Viktor Viktor Andrén | Växjö Lakers | 23 | 1355:15 | 45 | 4 | 91.38 | 1.99 |
| Ericsson, Joacim Joacim Eriksson | Växjö Lakers | 29 | 1729:02 | 59 | 2 | 91.58 | 2.05 |
| Gustafsson, Johan Johan Gustafsson | Frölunda HC | 38 | 2074:28 | 73 | 2 | 91.74 | 2.11 |
| Haugen, Lars Lars Haugen | Färjestad BK | 35 | 2014:41 | 72 | 6 | 92.48 | 2.14 |
| Pettersson-Wentzel, Fredrik Fredrik Pettersson-Wentzel | HV71 | 30 | 1793:58 | 65 | 1 | 91.02 | 2.17 |

## Playoffs

The top six teams will qualify directly for the quarter-finals, while the four teams ranked 7–10 will play a best-of-three series (also called a Play In to the Playoffs) and battle for the two remaining spots.

### 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 | 2 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Färjestad BK | 2 | 8 | Malmö Redhawks | 4 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Djurgårdens IF | 1 | | | | 2 | HV71 | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 8 | Malmö Redhawks | 1 | | | |
| | | | 2 | HV71 | 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) | | | |
| | | | 7 | Färjestad BK | 0 | (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) | 2 | HV71 | 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 | Brynäs IF | 3 |
| | | | 3 | Frölunda HC | 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) | | | |
| 8 | Malmö Redhawks | 2 | 6 | Skellefteå AIK | 3 | (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 | Luleå HF | 0 | | | | 3 | Frölunda HC | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Brynäs IF | 4 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Linköpings HC | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Brynäs IF | 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) Färjestad BK vs. (10) Djurgårdens IF

* Färjestad BK won series 2–1

#### (8) Malmö Redhawks vs. (9) Luleå HF

* Malmö Redhawks won series 2–0

### Quarter-finals
#### (1) Växjö Lakers vs. (8) Malmö Redhawks

* Malmö Redhawks won series 4–2

#### (2) HV71 vs. (7) Färjestad BK

* HV71 won series 4–0

#### (3) Frölunda HC vs. (6) Skellefteå AIK

* Frölunda HC won series 4–3

#### (4) Linköpings HC vs. (5) Brynäs IF

* Brynäs IF won series 4–2

### Semi-finals
#### (2) HV71 vs. (8) Malmö Redhawks

* HV71 won series 4–1

#### (3) Frölunda HC vs. (5) Brynäs IF

* Brynäs IF won series 4–3

### Finals
#### (2) HV71 vs. (5) Brynäs IF

* HV71 won series 4–3

### 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 29, 2017.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Clark, Kevin Kevin Clark | Brynäs IF | 20 | 9 | 8 | 17 | +3 | 10 |
| Wellman, Casey Casey Wellman | Frölunda HC | 14 | 9 | 7 | 16 | +4 | 6 |
| Sandberg, Filip Filip Sandberg | HV71 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 14 | +6 | 4 |
| Lindblom, Oskar Oskar Lindblom | Brynäs IF | 20 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 10 |
| Önerud, Simon Simon Önerud | HV71 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 13 | +5 | 6 |
| Ikonen, Juuso Juuso Ikonen | Brynäs IF | 20 | 7 | 5 | 12 | –5 | 0 |
| Olofsson, Victor Victor Olofsson | Frölunda HC | 14 | 4 | 8 | 12 | +4 | 0 |
| Lundqvist, Joel Joel Lundqvist | Frölunda HC | 14 | 2 | 10 | 12 | +6 | 6 |
| Thörnberg, Martin Martin Thörnberg | HV71 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 11 | +10 | 2 |
| Hardt, Nichlas Nichlas Hardt | Malmö Redhawks | 13 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 6 |

#### 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 29, 2017.
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 |
| Ortio, Joni Joni Ortio | Skellefteå AIK | 7 | 439:42 | 13 | 1 | 93.26 | 1.77 |
| Rautio, David David Rautio | Brynäs IF | 11 | 658:15 | 22 | 3 | 92.79 | 2.01 |
| Söderström, Linus Linus Söderström | HV71 | 16 | 993:11 | 35 | 0 | 92.17 | 2.11 |
| Eriksson, Joacim Joacim Eriksson | Växjö Lakers | 5 | 304:41 | 12 | 1 | 91.78 | 2.36 |
| Högberg, Marcus Marcus Högberg | Linköpings HC | 6 | 340:13 | 14 | 0 | 91.52 | 2.47 |

## SHL awards

* Guldhjälmen: Joakim Lindström, Skellefteå AIK
* Guldpucken: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
* Honken Trophy: Oscar Alsenfelt, Malmö Redhawks
* Håkan Loob Trophy: Kevin Clark, Brynäs IF
* Rookie of the Year: Andreas Borgman, HV71
* Salming Trophy: Henrik Tömmernes, Frölunda HC
* Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy: Simon Önerud, HV71
* Guldpipan: Mikael Nord