# 2017–18 Nashville Predators season

The 2017–18 Nashville Predators season was the 20th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997. The team reached the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, and went from the worst team to qualify for the playoffs the season before to the NHL's top team, winning the Central Division and winning the Presidents' Trophy, both for the first time in team history. However, the Predators were eliminated in the Second Round of the playoffs, as they were upset by the Winnipeg Jets, losing in seven games.

## Standings

Central Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | 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 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 19, 2017.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 22, 2017.
2017–18 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

2018 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics

Final Stats

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Filip Forsberg | 67 | 26 | 38 | 64 | 27 | 38 |
| Viktor Arvidsson | 78 | 29 | 32 | 61 | 20 | 36 |
| P. K. Subban | 82 | 16 | 43 | 59 | 18 | 82 |
| Ryan Johansen | 79 | 15 | 39 | 54 | 13 | 78 |
| Roman Josi | 75 | 14 | 39 | 53 | 24 | 24 |
| Craig Smith | 79 | 25 | 26 | 51 | 20 | 24 |
| Kevin Fiala | 80 | 23 | 25 | 48 | 20 | 26 |
| Kyle Turris$^†$ | 65 | 13 | 29 | 42 | 22 | 24 |
| Calle Jarnkrok | 68 | 16 | 19 | 35 | 20 | 12 |
| Mattias Ekholm | 81 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 25 | 46 |
| Ryan Ellis | 44 | 9 | 23 | 32 | 26 | 6 |
| Colton Sissons | 81 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 2 | 42 |
| Nick Bonino | 71 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 4 | 20 |
| Scott Hartnell | 62 | 13 | 11 | 24 | −3 | 82 |
| Austin Watson | 76 | 14 | 5 | 19 | 2 | 123 |
| Alexei Emelin | 76 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 40 |
| Miikka Salomaki | 58 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −8 | 34 |
| Pontus Aberg$^‡$ | 37 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Matt Irwin | 50 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 8 |
| Ryan Hartman$^†$ | 21 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −4 | 14 |
| Yannick Weber | 47 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 16 |
| Mike Fisher | 16 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Anthony Bitetto | 32 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 27 |
| Samuel Girard$^‡$ | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −3 | 2 |
| Frédérick Gaudreau | 20 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Cody McLeod$^‡$ | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 72 |
| Eeli Tolvanen | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Filip Forsberg | 13 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 2 | 2 |
| Ryan Johansen | 13 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 2 |
| Viktor Arvidsson | 13 | 5 | 4 | 9 | −1 | 6 |
| P. K. Subban | 13 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −2 | 10 |
| Austin Watson | 13 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 12 |
| Mattias Ekholm | 13 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| Colton Sissons | 13 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −2 | 8 |
| Nick Bonino | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −1 | 9 |
| Ryan Ellis | 13 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −4 | 8 |
| Kevin Fiala | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 8 |
| Craig Smith | 13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −3 | 2 |
| Roman Josi | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −4 | 2 |
| Ryan Hartman | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Kyle Turris | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −3 | 6 |
| Mike Fisher | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Yannick Weber | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Calle Jarnkrok | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 0 |
| Matt Irwin | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Alexei Emelin | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Miikka Salomaki | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Scott Hartnell | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Pekka Rinne | 59 | 59 | 3,475:27 | 42 | 13 | 4 | 134 | 2.31 | 1840 | .927 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Juuse Saros | 26 | 23 | 1,496:40 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 61 | 2.45 | 810 | .925 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Pekka Rinne | 13 | 13 | 685 | 7 | 6 | 35 | 3.07 | 363 | .904 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Juuse Saros | 4 | 0 | 114 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.05 | 42 | .952 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Predators. Stats reflect time with the Predators only. $^‡$Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Predators only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record

## Transactions

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

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01) | To Colorado AvalancheColin Wilson | To Nashville Predators4th-round pick in 2019 |
| July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01) | To Vegas Golden Knights3rd-round pick in 2019 | To Nashville PredatorsAlexei Emelin |
| November 5, 2017 (2017-11-05) | To Colorado AvalancheSamuel Girard Vladislav Kamenev 2nd-round pick in 2018 | To Nashville PredatorsKyle Turris |
| February 3, 2018 (2018-02-03) | To Dallas StarsAndrew O'Brien | To Nashville PredatorsMark McNeill |
| February 25, 2018 (2018-02-25) | To Edmonton OilersPontus Aberg | To Nashville PredatorsMark Letestu |
| February 25, 2018 (2018-02-25) | To Columbus Blue JacketsMark Letestu | To Nashville Predators4th-round pick in 2018 |
| February 25, 2018 (2018-02-25) | To San Jose Sharks6th-round pick in 2018 | To Nashville PredatorsBrandon Bollig Troy Grosenick |
| February 26, 2018 (2018-02-26) | To Chicago BlackhawksVictor Ejdsell 1st-round pick in 2018 4th-round pick in 2018 | To Nashville PredatorsRyan Hartman 5th-round pick in 2018 |
| February 26, 2018 (2018-02-26) | To Arizona CoyotesPierre-Cedric Labrie Trevor Murphy | To Nashville PredatorsTyler Gaudet John Ramage |

### Player signings

| Date | Player | Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) |
| July 17, 2017 (2017-07-17) | Frederick Gaudreau | 3-year, $2 million |
| July 18, 2017 (2017-07-18) | Pontus Aberg | 2-year, $1.3 million |
| July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21) | Marek Mazanec | 1-year, $650,000 |
| July 22, 2017 (2017-07-22) | Viktor Arvidsson | 7-year, $29.75 million |
| July 24, 2017 (2017-07-24) | Austin Watson | 3-year, $3.3 million |
| July 28, 2017 (2017-07-28) | Ryan Johansen | 8-year, $64 million |
| November 5, 2017 (2017-11-05) | Kyle Turris | 6-year, $36 million contract extension |
| January 9, 2018 (2018-01-09) | Anthony Bitetto | 1-year, $650,000 contract extension |
| January 9, 2018 (2018-01-09) | Matt Irwin | 2-year, $1.35 million contract extension |
| January 9, 2018 (2018-01-09) | Yannick Weber | 2-year, $1.35 million contract extension |
| February 26, 2018 (2018-02-26) | Mike Fisher | 1-year, $1 million |
| March 29, 2018 (2018-03-29) | Eeli Tolvanen | 3-year, $9.4375 million entry-level contract |

## Draft picks

Below are the Nashville Predators' 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 | 30 | Eeli Tolvanen | RW | Finland | Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) |
| 2 | 61 | Grant Mismash | C | United States | U.S. NTDP (USHL) |
| 3 | 92 | David Farrance | D | United States | U.S. NTDP (USHL) |
| 5 | 154 | Tomas Vomacka | G | Czech Republic | Corpus Christi IceRays (NAHL) |
| 6 | 176$^1$ | Pavel Koltygin | C | Russia | Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 216 | Jacob Paquette | D | Canada | Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) |

### Draft notes

* The New York Rangers' sixth-round pick went to the Nashville Predators as the result of a trade on July 1, 2015, that sent Magnus Hellberg to New York in exchange for this pick.