2017–18 Philadelphia Flyers season
The 2017–18 Philadelphia Flyers season was the 51st season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 5, 1967. They would improve from their record from last year and make the playoffs for the first time since the 2015–16 season. Off-season. The first major event of the off-season was the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft with general manager Ron Hextall having to submit his list of protected players for the draft. The Vegas Golden Knights selected Pierre-Edouard Bellemare at number 12 from the Flyers. Having been awarded the second overall pick  in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft in the draft lottery, Hextall made several trades in the lead-up to draft day. The most significant of them being to trade Brayden Schenn to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for the 27th overall pick in the draft, a conditional first round pick in 2018, and Jori Lehtera. The Flyers selected forward Nolan Patrick with the second overall pick, and went on to add Morgan Frost with the pick acquired from St. Louis and Isaac Ratcliffe with their second round selection, to add to their forward prospects. The Flyers remained fairly quiet  players in free agency, as had been the case the previous year. The main issue for Hextall being to decide how to fill the vacancy left in net by Steve Mason. On July 1, 2017 the Flyers announced the signing of free agent Brian Elliott who would join the recently extended Michal Neuvirth to make up the goalie tandem. The Flyers also re-signed several players including Scott Laughton, Taylor Leier, Jordan Weal and Shayne Gostisbehere. Schedule and results. Preseason. The preseason schedule was published on June 15, 2017. Regular season. The regular season schedule was released on June 22 , 2017. Player statistics. Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Flyers. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only. Traded/Waived mid-season Transactions. The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 12, 2017, the day after the deciding game of the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2018, the day of the deciding game of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals. Signings. Free agency. The following players were signed by the Flyers via free agency. Two-way contracts are marked with an asterisk (*). Internal. The following players were either re-signed by the Flyers or , in the case of the team's selections in the NHL Entry Draft, signed to entry level contracts. Two-way contracts are marked with an asterisk (*). NHL Expansion Draft. The 2017 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 21, 2017. It featured the expansion Vegas Golden Knights selecting players from the other NHL teams. Each NHL team was allowed to protect either 1 goaltender, 3 defensemen, and 7 forwards OR 1 goaltender and 8 skaters (defensemen and forwards together). Players with no movement clauses in effect at the time of the draft had to be protected unless the player agreed  to waive it. All first and second-year players as well as any unsigned draft choices were exempt. Waivers. The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions. Departures. The following players left the team via free agency, release, or retirement. Players who were under contract and left the team during the season are marked with an asterisk (*). Draft picks. Below are the Philadelphia Flyers' selections at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 23–24, 2017 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.