2017–18 Detroit Red Wings season

The 2017–18 Detroit Red Wings season was the 92nd season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on September 25, 1926.^[2] It was also the Red Wings' first season at Little Caesars Arena. The team missed the playoffs for the second year in a row, marking the first time since 1982–83 that the Red Wings missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons.

2017–18 Detroit Red Wings
Division	5th Atlantic
Conference	13th Eastern
2017–18 record	30–39–13
Home record	16–16–9
Road record	14–23–4
Goals for	217
Goals against	255
Team information
General manager	Ken Holland
Coach	Jeff Blashill
Captain	Henrik Zetterberg
Alternate captains	Justin Abdelkader Niklas Kronwall
Arena	Little Caesars Arena
Average attendance	19,515[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) Toledo Walleye (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Anthony Mantha (24)
Assists	Dylan Larkin (47)
Points	Dylan Larkin (63)
Penalty minutes	Justin Abdelkader (78)
Plus/minus	Joe Hicketts (+5)
Wins	Jimmy Howard (22)
Goals against average	Jimmy Howard (2.85)
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

Standings

Atlantic Division

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	z – Tampa Bay Lightning	82	54	23	5	48	296	236	+60	113
2	x – Boston Bruins	82	50	20	12	47	270	214	+56	112
3	x – Toronto Maple Leafs	82	49	26	7	42	277	232	+45	105
4	Florida Panthers	82	44	30	8	41	248	246	+2	96
5	Detroit Red Wings	82	30	39	13	25	217	255	−38	73
6	Montreal Canadiens	82	29	40	13	27	209	264	−55	71
7	Ottawa Senators	82	28	43	11	26	221	291	−70	67
8	Buffalo Sabres	82	25	45	12	24	199	280	−81	62

Source: National Hockey League^[3]
x – Clinched playoff spot; z – Clinched conference

Eastern Conference Wild Card

Pos	Div	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	ME	x – Columbus Blue Jackets	82	45	30	7	39	242	230	+12	97
2	ME	x – New Jersey Devils	82	44	29	9	39	248	244	+4	97
3	AT	Florida Panthers	82	44	30	8	41	248	246	+2	96
4	ME	Carolina Hurricanes	82	36	35	11	33	228	256	−28	83
5	ME	New York Islanders	82	35	37	10	32	264	296	−32	80
6	ME	New York Rangers	82	34	39	9	31	231	268	−37	77
7	AT	Detroit Red Wings	82	30	39	13	25	217	255	−38	73
8	AT	Montreal Canadiens	82	29	40	13	27	209	264	−55	71
9	AT	Ottawa Senators	82	28	43	11	26	221	291	−70	67
10	AT	Buffalo Sabres	82	25	45	12	24	199	280	−81	62

Source: National Hockey League^[4]
x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Preseason

2017 preseason game log: 3–4–1 (Home: 2–2–0; Road: 1–2–1)[5]
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 19	Detroit	2–4	Boston		Mrazek	16,309	0–1–0	Recap
2	September 20	Detroit	5–6	Pittsburgh	OT	McCollum	17,784	0–1–1	Recap
3	September 21	Detroit	1–6	Chicago		Mrazek	20,342	0–2–1	Recap
4	September 23	Boston	1–5	Detroit		Howard	17,314	1–2–1	Recap
5	September 25	Pittsburgh	1–4	Detroit		Howard	16,770	2–2–1	Recap
6	September 28	Chicago	4–2	Detroit		Mrazek	17,089	2–3–1	Recap
7	September 29	Toronto	4–2	Detroit		Howard	17,746	2–4–1	Recap
8	September 30	Detroit	3–2	Toronto	SO	Coreau	—	3–4–1	Recap

Regular season

2017–18 game log: 30–39–13 (Home: 16–16–9; Road: 14–23–4)[6]
October: 6–6–1 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 4–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 5 Minnesota 2–4 Detroit Howard 19,515 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 7 Detroit 2–1 Ottawa SO Howard 14,883 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 October 10 Detroit 2–4 Dallas Mrazek 18,119 2–1–0 4 Recap 4 October 12 Detroit 4–2 Arizona Howard 13,584 3–1–0 6 Recap 5 October 13 Detroit 6–3 Vegas Mrazek 17,645 4–1–0 8 Recap 6 October 16 Tampa Bay 3–2 Detroit Howard 19,515 4–2–0 8 Recap 7 October 18 Detroit 3–6 Toronto Mrazek 19,158 4–3–0 8 Recap 8 October 20 Washington 4–3 Detroit OT Mrazek 19,515 4–3–1 9 Recap 9 October 22 Vancouver 4–1 Detroit Howard 19,515 4–4–1 9 Recap 10 October 24 Detroit 0–1 Buffalo Howard 16,882 4–5–1 9 Recap 11 October 26 Detroit 2–3 Tampa Bay Howard 19,092 4–6–1 9 Recap 12 October 28 Detroit 3–2 Florida SO Howard 13,085 5–6–1 11 Recap 13 October 31 Arizona 3–5 Detroit Howard 19,515 6–6–1 13 Recap
November: 4–5–4 (Home: 2–3–3; Road: 2–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 14 November 2 Detroit 1–3 Ottawa Howard 14,724 6–7–1 13 Recap 15 November 5 Detroit 4–0 Edmonton Mrazek 18,347 7–7–1 15 Recap 16 November 6 Detroit 3–2 Vancouver Howard 17,836 8–7–1 17 Recap 17 November 9 Detroit 3–6 Calgary Mrazek 18,788 8–8–1 17 Recap 18 November 11 Columbus 2–1 Detroit SO Howard 19,515 8–8–2 18 Recap 19 November 15 Calgary 2–8 Detroit Howard 19,515 9–8–2 20 Recap 20 November 17 Buffalo 1–3 Detroit Howard 19,515 10–8–2 22 Recap 21 November 19 Colorado 4–3 Detroit OT Howard 19,515 10–8–3 23 Recap 22 November 22 Edmonton 6–2 Detroit Howard 19,515 10–9–3 23 Recap 23 November 24 Detroit 1–2 NY Rangers OT Howard 18,006 10–9–4 24 Recap 24 November 25 New Jersey 4–3 Detroit OT Howard 19,515 10–9–5 25 Recap 25 November 28 Los Angeles 4–1 Detroit Howard 19,515 10–10–5 25 Recap 26 November 30 Montreal 6–3 Detroit Howard 19,515 10–11–5 25 Recap
December: 5–5–2 (Home: 4–1–2; Road: 1–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 27 December 2 Detroit 1–10 Montreal Mrazek 21,302 10–12–5 25 Recap 28 December 5 Winnipeg 1–5 Detroit Howard 19,515 11–12–5 27 Recap 29 December 9 St. Louis 6–1 Detroit Howard 19,515 11–13–5 27 Recap 30 December 11 Florida 2–1 Detroit OT Howard 19,515 11–13–6 28 Recap 31 December 13 Boston 3–2 Detroit OT Howard 19,515 11–13–7 29 Recap 32 December 15 Toronto 1–3 Detroit Howard 19,515 12–13–7 31 Recap 33 December 19 Detroit 6–3 NY Islanders Mrazek 10,511 13–13–7 33 Recap 34 December 20 Detroit 3–4 Philadelphia Howard 19,674 13–14–7 33 Recap 35 December 23 Detroit 1–3 Boston Howard 17,565 13–15–7 33 Recap 36 December 27 Detroit 1–3 New Jersey Howard 16,514 13–16–7 33 Recap 37 December 29 NY Rangers 2–3 Detroit SO Howard 19,515 14–16–7 35 Recap 38 December 31 Pittsburgh 1–4 Detroit Howard 19,515 15–16–7 37 Recap
January: 5–5–1 (Home: 3–4–1; Road: 2–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 39 January 3 Ottawa 1–2 Detroit OT Howard 19,515 16–16–7 39 Recap 40 January 5 Florida 2–4 Detroit Howard 19,515 17–16–7 41 Recap 41 January 7 Tampa Bay 5–2 Detroit Mrazek 19,515 17–17–7 41 Recap 42 January 13 Detroit 1–4 Pittsburgh Howard 18,637 17–18–7 41 Recap 43 January 14 Detroit 4–0 Chicago Mrazek 21,830 18–18–7 43 Recap 44 January 16 Dallas 4–2 Detroit Howard 19,515 18–19–7 43 Recap 45 January 20 Carolina 3–1 Detroit Howard 19,515 18–20–7 43 Recap 46 January 22 Detroit 3–0 New Jersey Mrazek 13,847 19–20–7 45 Recap 47 January 23 Philadelphia 3–2 Detroit OT Mrazek 19,515 19–20–8 46 Recap 48 January 25 Chicago 5–1 Detroit Howard 19,515 19–21–8 46 Recap All-Star Break in Tampa 49 January 31 San Jose 1–2 Detroit SO Mrazek 19,515 20–21–8 48 Recap
February: 6–6–2 (Home: 2–3–1; Road: 4–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 50 February 2 Detroit 4–1 Carolina Mrazek 18,126 21–21–8 50 Recap 51 February 3 Detroit 2–3 Florida Mrazek 17,987 21–22–8 50 Recap 52 February 6 Boston 3–2 Detroit Howard 19,515 21–23–8 50 Recap 53 February 9 Detroit 6–7 NY Islanders OT Mrazek 11,847 21–23–9 51 Recap 54 February 11 Detroit 5–4 Washington OT Howard 18,506 22–23–9 53 Recap 55 February 13 Anaheim 1–2 Detroit Howard 19,515 23–23–9 55 Recap 56 February 15 Detroit 1–4 Tampa Bay Howard 19,092 23–24–9 55 Recap 57 February 17 Detroit 3–1 Nashville Mrazek 17,561 24–24–9 57 Recap 58 February 18 Toronto 3–2 Detroit Mrazek 19,515 24–25–9 57 Recap 59 February 20 Nashville 3–2 Detroit Howard 19,515 24–26–9 57 Recap 60 February 22 Buffalo 3–2 Detroit OT Howard 19,515 24–26–10 58 Recap 61 February 24 Carolina 1–3 Detroit Howard 19,515 25–26–10 60 Recap 62 February 25 Detroit 3–2 NY Rangers OT Howard 18,006 26–26–10 62 Recap 63 February 28 Detroit 1–2 St. Louis Howard 18,813 26–27–10 62 Recap
March: 4–11–1 (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 1–9–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 64 March 2 Detroit 3–4 Winnipeg Howard 15,321 26–28–10 62 Recap 65 March 4 Detroit 1–4 Minnesota Howard 19,037 26–29–10 62 Recap 66 March 6 Detroit 5–6 Boston OT Howard 17,565 26–29–11 63 Recap 67 March 8 Vegas 4–0 Detroit Howard 19,515 26–30–11 63 Recap 68 March 9 Detroit 2–3 Columbus Coreau 17,284 26–31–11 63 Recap 69 March 12 Detroit 3–5 San Jose Howard 17,199 26–32–11 63 Recap 70 March 15 Detroit 1–4 Los Angeles Coreau 18,230 26–33–11 63 Recap 71 March 16 Detroit 2–4 Anaheim Howard 17,243 26–34–11 63 Recap 72 March 18 Detroit 1–5 Colorado Coreau 18,032 26–35–11 63 Recap 73 March 20 Philadelphia 4–5 Detroit SO Howard 19,515 27–35–11 65 Recap 74 March 22 Washington 1–0 Detroit Howard 19,515 27–36–11 65 Recap 75 March 24 Detroit 3–4 Toronto Howard 19,154 27–37–11 65 Recap 76 March 26 Detroit 2–4 Montreal Coreau 21,302 27–38–11 65 Recap 77 March 27 Pittsburgh 2–5 Detroit Howard 19,515 28–38–11 67 Recap 78 March 29 Detroit 6–3 Buffalo Howard 18,493 29–38–11 69 Recap 79 March 31 Ottawa 0–2 Detroit Howard 19,515 30–38–11 71 Recap
April: 0–1–2 (Home: 0–1–1; Road: 0–0–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 80 April 3 Detroit 4–5 Columbus OT Howard 18,477 30–38–12 72 Recap 81 April 5 Montreal 4–3 Detroit Coreau 19,515 30–39–12 72 Recap 82 April 7 NY Islanders 4–3 Detroit OT Coreau 19,515 30–39–13 73 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Dylan Larkin 82 16 47 63 −9 61 Henrik Zetterberg 82 11 45 56 1 14 Anthony Mantha 80 24 24 48 −1 52 Gustav Nyquist 82 21 19 40 −2 20 Justin Abdelkader 75 13 22 35 −11 78 Frans Nielsen 79 16 17 33 1 14 Andreas Athanasiou 71 16 17 33 −15 16 Mike Green 66 8 25 33 −14 38 Darren Helm 75 13 18 31 3 39 Tomas Tatar‡ 62 16 12 28 −8 24 Niklas Kronwall 79 4 23 27 −14 36 Martin Frk 68 11 14 25 −14 14 Tyler Bertuzzi 48 7 17 24 −7 39 Luke Glendening 69 11 8 19 −14 17 Trevor Daley 77 9 7 16 −5 36 Nick Jensen 81 0 15 15 −8 27 Jonathan Ericsson 81 3 10 13 −7 47 Danny DeKeyser 65 6 6 12 2 28 Xavier Ouellet 45 0 7 7 −3 6 David Booth 28 4 1 5 −5 10 Evgeny Svechnikov 14 2 2 4 −2 8 Luke Witkowski 31 1 3 4 −1 68 Joe Hicketts 5 0 3 3 5 0 Scott Wilson†‡ 17 0 0 0 −1 0 Dominic Turgeon 3 0 0 0 −1 2

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Jimmy Howard	60	57	3,368	22	27	9	160	2.85	1,770	.910	0	0	0	6
Petr Mrazek‡	22	18	1,184	8	7	3	57	2.89	573	.910	3	0	0	0
Jared Coreau	7	7	381	0	5	1	27	4.26	176	.867	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Red Wings. Stats reflect time with the Red Wings only.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Awards and honours

Milestones

Regular season Player Milestone Reached Martin Frk 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point October 5, 2017 Mike Green 300th career NHL assist October 5, 2017 Jimmy Howard 200th career NHL win October 5, 2017 Xavier Ouellet 100th career NHL game October 12, 2017 Trevor Daley 900th career NHL game October 16, 2017 Luke Glendening 300th career NHL game October 16, 2017 Darren Helm 500th career NHL game October 18, 2017 Tomas Tatar 100th career NHL goal October 18, 2017 Niklas Kronwall 800th career NHL game October 20, 2017 Frans Nielsen 700th career NHL game November 5, 2017 Tomas Tatar 200th career NHL point November 6, 2017 Frans Nielsen 400th career NHL point November 28, 2017 Dylan Larkin 100th career NHL point December 2, 2017 Anthony Mantha 100th career NHL game December 11, 2017 Tyler Bertuzzi 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point December 27, 2017 Gustav Nyquist 100th career NHL goal December 31, 2017 Dylan Larkin 200th career NHL game January 5, 2018 Henrik Zetterberg 600th career NHL assist January 5, 2018 Dominic Turgeon 1st career NHL game January 14, 2018 Tyler Bertuzzi 1st career NHL goal January 14, 2018 Joe Hicketts 1st career NHL game January 22, 2018 Tomas Tatar 400th career NHL game February 13, 2018 Luke Witkowski 1st career NHL goal February 17, 2018 Henrik Zetterberg 100th career NHL power-play goal February 24, 2018 Evgeny Svechnikov 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point March 20, 2018 Joe Hicketts 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point March 27, 2018 Niklas Kronwall 400th career NHL point March 27, 2018 Evgeny Svechnikov 1st career NHL assist March 29, 2018 Justin Abdelkader 100th career NHL goal April 7, 2018

Suspensions/fines

Player	Explanation	Length	Salary	Date issued
Luke Witkowski	Returning to the ice to take part in an altercation after being escorted off by an official	10 games	$40,322.58	November 16, 2017[7]
Justin Abdelkader	Spearing New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield in New York on Tuesday, December 19, 2017, at 19:17 of the first period.	—	$5,000.00	December 20, 2017[8]

Transactions

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
July 1, 2017	To Calgary Flames Conditional 7th-round pick in 2018	To Detroit Red Wings Tom McCollum	[9]
October 21, 2017	To New York Rangers Ryan Sproul	To Detroit Red Wings Matt Puempel	[10]
October 21, 2017	To Pittsburgh Penguins Riley Sheahan 5th-round pick in 2018	To Detroit Red Wings Scott Wilson 3rd-round pick in 2018	[11]
December 4, 2017	To Buffalo Sabres Scott Wilson	To Detroit Red Wings 5th-round pick in 2019	[12]
February 19, 2018	To Philadelphia Flyers Petr Mrazek[a]	To Detroit Red Wings Conditional 4th-round pick in 2018 Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2019	[13]
February 26, 2018	To Vegas Golden Knights Tomas Tatar	To Detroit Red Wings 1st-round pick in 2018 2nd-round pick in 2019 3rd-round pick in 2021	[14]

Notes:

• ^a Detroit to retain 50% ($2 million) of salary as part of trade.

Free agents acquired Date Player Former team Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) Ref July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01) Trevor Daley Pittsburgh Penguins 3-year, $9.53 million [15] Luke Witkowski Tampa Bay Lightning 2-year, $1.5 million [16] Turner Elson San Antonio Rampage 1-year, $650,000 [17] October 2, 2017 (2017-10-02) David Booth Avangard Omsk 1-year, $700,000 [18] October 3, 2017 (2017-10-03) Kaden Fulcher Hamilton Bulldogs 3-year, $2.15 million entry-level contract [19] May 21, 2018 (2018-05-21) Patrik Rybar Mountfield HK 1-year, $925,000 entry-level contract [20]

Free agents lost Date Player New team Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) Ref July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01) Mitch Callahan Edmonton Oilers 2-year, $1.4 million [21] Edward Pasquale 1-year, $700,000 July 26, 2017 (2017-07-26) Jake Paterson Milwaukee Admirals 2-year, $1.4 million [22] May 1, 2018 (2018-05-01) Matej Machovsky Sparta Praha 3-year [23] June 18, 2018 (2018-06-18) Turner Elson Grand Rapids Griffins 1-year [24]

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
June 27, 2017 (2017-06-27)	Ben Street	1-year, $650,000 contract extension	[25]
June 29, 2017 (2017-06-29)	Brian Lashoff	2-year, $1.3 million contract extension	[26]
	Dylan McIlrath	2-year, $1.3 million contract extension
July 3, 2017 (2017-07-03)	Xavier Ouellet	2-year, $2.5 million contract extension	[27]
July 18, 2017 (2017-07-18)	Martin Frk	1-year, $650,000 contract extension	[28]
July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)	Tomas Tatar	4-year, $21.2 million contract extension	[29]
August 5, 2017 (2017-08-05)	Michael Rasmussen	3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract	[30]
September 5, 2017 (2017-09-05)	Robbie Russo	2-year, $1.3 million contract extension	[31]
October 21, 2017 (2017-10-21)	Andreas Athanasiou	1-year, $1.3875 million contract extension	[32]
May 7, 2018 (2018-05-07)	David Pope	2-year, $2.875 million entry-level contract	[33]
May 25, 2018 (2018-05-25)	Gustav Lindstrom	3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract	[34]

Draft picks

See also: List of Detroit Red Wings draft picks

Below are the Detroit Red Wings' selections at the 2017 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 23–24, 2017 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	9	Michael Rasmussen	C	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
2	38	Gustav Lindstrom	D	Sweden	Almtuna IS (Allsvenskan)
3	711	Kasper Kotkansalo	D	Finland	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
3	792	Lane Zablocki	C	Canada	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
3	833	Zach Gallant	C	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
3	884	Keith Petruzzelli	G	United States	Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
4	100	Malte Setkov	D	Denmark	Malmö Redhawks (J20 SuperElit)
5	131	Cole Fraser	D	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
6	162	John Adams	RW	United States	Fargo Force (USHL)
6	1645	Reilly Webb	D	Canada	Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
7	193	Brady Gilmour	C	Canada	Saginaw Spirit (OHL)

Draft notes

1. The Florida Panthers' third-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on March 1, 2017 that sent Thomas Vanek to Florida in exchange for Dylan McIlrath and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).^[35] The condition – Detroit will receive a third-round pick in 2017 if Florida fails to qualify for the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs – was converted on March 30, 2017.^[36]
2. The Toronto Maple Leafs' third-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as compensation for Toronto hiring Mike Babcock as their head coach on May 20, 2015.^[37]
3. The New York Rangers' third-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on February 28, 2017 that sent Brendan Smith to New York in exchange for Ottawa's second-round pick in 2018 and this pick.^[38]
4. The Chicago Blackhawks' third-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on February 24, 2017 that sent Tomas Jurco to Chicago in exchange for this pick.^[39]
5. The Florida Panthers' sixth-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on February 27, 2016 that sent Jakub Kindl to Florida in exchange for this pick.^[40]