2017–18 Florida Panthers season

The 2017–18 Florida Panthers season was the 25th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 14, 1993. The Panthers missed the playoffs for the second straight season, despite recording 96 points, tied with the 2014–15 Boston Bruins and 2018–19 Montreal Canadiens for the most by a team to miss the playoffs.
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Preseason===
The preseason schedule was released on June 9, 2017.
2017 preseason game log: 4–1–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)	2017 preseason game log: 4–1–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)	2017 preseason game log: 4–1–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)	2017 preseason game log: 4–1–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)	2017 preseason game log: 4–1–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)	2017 preseason game log: 4–1–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)	2017 preseason game log: 4–1–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)	2017 preseason game log: 4–1–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)	2017 preseason game log: 4–1–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)	2017 preseason game log: 4–1–1 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Recap
1 	September 19 	Florida 	5–3 	Nashville 	 	Sateri 	— 	1–0–0 	Recap
2 	September 19 	Florida 	2–3 	Nashville 	OT 	Montembeault 	— 	1–0–1 	Recap
3 	September 24 	Florida 	4–2 	Tampa Bay 	 	Reimer 	12,911 	2–0–1 	Recap
4 	September 26 	Tampa Bay 	2–4 	Florida 	 	Luongo 	8,242 	3–0–1 	Recap
5 	September 28 	Tampa Bay 	2–5 	Florida 	 	Reimer 	13,279 	4–0–1 	Recap
6 	September 29 	Florida 	1–3 	Montreal 	 	Luongo 	21,288 	4–1–1 	Recap
===Regular season===
The regular season schedule was published on June 22, 2017.
2017–18 game log 	2017–18 game log 	2017–18 game log 	2017–18 game log 	2017–18 game log 	2017–18 game log 	2017–18 game log 	2017–18 game log 	2017–18 game log 	2017–18 game log 	2017–18 game log
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October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)	October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)	October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)	October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)	October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)	October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)	October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)	October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)	October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)	October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)	October: 4–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts 	Recap
1 	October 6 	Florida 	3–5 	Tampa Bay 	 	Luongo 	19,092 	0–1–0 	0 	Recap
2 	October 7 	Tampa Bay 	4–5 	Florida 	 	Reimer 	16,871 	1–1–0 	2 	Recap
3 	October 12 	St. Louis 	2–5 	Florida 	 	Luongo 	10,846 	2–1–0 	4 	Recap
4 	October 14 	Florida 	3–4 	Pittsburgh 	 	Reimer 	18,582 	2–2–0 	4 	Recap
5 	October 17 	Florida 	1–5 	Philadelphia 	 	Luongo 	19,145 	2–3–0 	4 	Recap
6 	October 20 	Pittsburgh 	4–3 	Florida 	 	Reimer 	15,756 	2–4–0 	4 	Recap
7 	October 21 	Florida 	4–1 	Washington 	 	Reimer 	18,506 	3–4–0 	6 	Recap
8 	October 24 	Florida 	1–5 	Montreal 	 	Reimer 	21,302 	3–5–0 	6 	Recap
9 	October 26 	Anaheim 	3–8 	Florida 	 	Reimer 	10,545 	4–5–0 	8 	Recap
10 	October 28 	Detroit 	3–2 	Florida 	SO 	Reimer 	13,085 	4–5–1 	9 	Recap
11 	October 30 	Tampa Bay 	8–5 	Florida 	 	Niemi 	9,493 	4–6–1 	9 	Recap
==Player statistics==
As of April 9, 2018
;Skaters
 Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	79	27	51	78	9 	14
 	82	31	44	75	–9 	54
 	82	27	42	69	–2 	32
 	74	28	37	65	10 	8
 	82	8 	48	56	7 	35
 	82	19	30	49	5 	41
 	82	16	22	38	9 	71
 	76	13	16	29	–5 	33
 	68	9 	19	28	11 	30
 	81	10	17	27	–1 	61
 	76	11	13	24	6 	24
 	51	11	11	22	4 	6
 	82	3 	13	16	–8 	20
 	42	5 	9 	14	–7 	16
 	75	3 	11	14	–9 	31
 	67	2 	11	13	–2 	98
 	44	4 	8 	12	–6 	19
 	75	3 	6 	9 	–13	212
† 	16	5 	3 	8 	6 	12
 	60	2 	6 	8 	5 	32
 	26	3 	1 	4 	2 	7
 	38	3 	1 	4 	–10	25
 	4 	1 	0 	1 	–1 	0
 	7 	1 	0 	1 	–6 	0
 	5 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0
 	11	0 	1 	1 	–5 	2
 	8 	0 	0 	0 	–2 	0
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltenders
 Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	44	42	2,411:25	22	14	6	120	2.99	1373	.913	4	0	1	4
 	35	33	1,965:58	18	11	2	81 	2.47	1143	.929	3	0	2	0
 	9 	7 	492:36 	4 	4 	0	24 	2.92	271 	.911	0	0	0	0
†‡ 	2 	0 	58:42 	0 	1 	0	5 	5.11	39 	.872	0	0	0	0
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Panthers. Statistics reflect time with the Panthers only.
‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Statistics reflect time with the Panthers only.
Bold denotes season record.
==Transactions==
The Panthers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2017–18 season.
===Trades===
Date	Details 	Details 	Ref
 	To Vegas Golden KnightsReilly Smith 	To Florida Panthers4th-round pick in 2018 	
 	To Dallas StarsReece Scarlett 	To Florida PanthersLudvig Bystrom 	
 	To Edmonton OilersFuture considerations 	To Florida PanthersGregory Chase 	
 	To Boston Bruins3rd-round pick in 2018 	To Florida PanthersFrank Vatrano 	
 	To San Jose Sharks2nd-round pick in 20194th-round pick in 20185th-round pick in 2018	To Florida PanthersMike Hoffman7th-round pick in 2018	
===Free agents acquired===
Date	Player 	Former team 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars) 	Ref
 	Connor Brickley 	Vegas Golden Knights 	1-year, $750,000 	
 	Evgenii Dadonov 	SKA St. Petersburg 	3-year, $12 million 	
 	Micheal Haley 	San Jose Sharks 	2-year, $1.65 million 	
 	Harri Sateri 	Vityaz Podolsk 	1-year, $750,000 	
 	Curtis Valk 	Utica Comets 	1-year, $682,500 entry-level contract 	
 	Radim Vrbata 	Arizona Coyotes 	1-year, $2.5 million 	
 	Alexandre Grenier	Vancouver Canucks 	1-year, $725,000 	
 	Edward Wittchow 	Springfield Thunderbirds	1-year, $670,000 	
 	Anthony Greco 	Springfield Thunderbirds	1-year, $660,000 	
 	Patrick Bajkov 	Everett Silvertips 	3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract	
 	Bogdan Kiselevich	CSKA Moscow 	1-year, $650,000 	
===Free agents lost===
Date	Player 	New team 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars)	Ref
 	Tim Bozon 	EHC Kloten 	1-year 	
 	Adam Wilcox 	Buffalo Sabres 	1-year 	
 	Brent Regner 	Dallas Stars 	1-year 	
 	Kyle Rau 	Minnesota Wild 	1-year, $700,000 	
 	Paul Thompson 	Vegas Golden Knights 	1-year, $650,000 	
 	Michael Sgarbossa	Winnipeg Jets 	1-year, $650,000 	
 	Brody Sutter 	Manitoba Moose 	1-year 	
 	Jussi Jokinen 	Edmonton Oilers 	1-year, $1.1 million 	
 	Colin Stevens 	Wheeling Nailers 	1-year 	
 	Sam Brittain 	San Antonio Rampage 	Unknown 	
 	Thomas Vanek 	Vancouver Canucks 	1-year, $900,000 	
 	Graham Black 	University of Calgary	Unknown 	
 	Jaromir Jagr 	Calgary Flames 	1-year, $1 million 	
 	Jakub Kindl 	HC Plzeň 	Unknown 	
===Claimed via waivers===
Player 	Previous team 	Date	Ref
Antti Niemi	Pittsburgh Penguins	 	
===Lost via waivers===
Player 	New team 	Date	Ref
Antti Niemi	Montreal Canadiens	 	
===Lost via retirement===
Date	Player	Ref
===Player signings===
Date	Player 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars) 	Ref
 	Chase Balisy 	1-year, $650,000 	
 	Reece Scarlett 	1-year, $675,000 	
 	Alex Petrovic 	1-year, $1.85 million 	
 	Sebastian Repo 	3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract	
 	Mark Pysyk 	3-year, $8.2 million 	
 	Owen Tippett 	3-year, $4.975 million entry-level contract	
 	MacKenzie Weegar	1-year, $675,000 	
 	Mike Matheson 	8-year, $39 million contract extension 	
 	Jonathan Ang 	3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract	
 	Colton Sceviour 	3-year, $3.6 million contract extension 	
 	Riley Stillman 	3-year, $2.7 million entry-level contract 	
 	Henrik Borgstrom	3-year, $4.475 million entry-level contract	
 	Josh Brown 	2-year, $1.35 million contract extension 	
 	Ludvig Byström 	1-year, $650,000 contract extension 	
==Draft picks==
Below are the Florida Panthers' 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 	10 	Owen Tippett 	RW 	Canada 	Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
2 	40 	Aleksi Heponiemi	C 	Finland 	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
3 	661 	Max Gildon 	D 	USA 	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
5 	133 	Tyler Inamoto 	D 	USA 	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
6 	1842	Sebastian Repo 	C 	Finland 	Tappara (Liiga)
Draft notes:
# The Arizona Coyotes' third-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a trade on August 25, 2016 that sent Dave Bolland and Lawson Crouse to Arizona in exchange for a conditional second-round pick in 2018 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Florida will receive the better of Arizona or Detroit's third-round picks in 2017 – was converted on March 29, 2017 when Detroit clinched a better regular season record than Arizona for the 2016–17 NHL season.
# The Anaheim Ducks' sixth-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a trade on December 4, 2014 that sent Colby Robak to Anaheim in exchange for Jesse Blacker and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition — Florida will receive a sixth-round pick in 2017 dependent on how many games Robak played for Anaheim during the 2014–15 NHL season — the date of conversion is unknown.
==References==