The 2017–18 Vegas Golden Knights season was the inaugural season for the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expa ...

. They played their home games at

T-Mobile Arena T-Mobile Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Paradise, Nevada. Opened on April 6, 2016, it is the home arena of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). A joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Anschutz En ...

on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...

in Paradise, Nevada. The Golden Knights enjoyed the strongest debut season for an expansion team in North American professional sports history. On February 1, 2018, they broke the record for most wins by an expansion team in their first season when they earned their 34th win of the season. On February 21, they broke the record for most points by an expansion team in their inaugural season when they got their 84th point of the season. Then on March 26, they became the first team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season in the league since the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

and

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...

in the 1979–80 season. Following that achievement, on March 31, 2018, with a 3–2 victory over the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

, the Knights became the first modern-era expansion team from any of the four major sports and the first NHL team since the 1926–27 New York Rangers to win their division in their inaugural season (excluding the 1967–68 Philadelphia Flyers, as all teams in the West Division that year were expansion teams). The Golden Knights finished the regular season with a .665

points percentage Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

; prior to 2018 the only examples of first year expansion teams joining any of the North American major professional sports leagues after their respective league's first decade and finishing with a winning/points percentage of .500 or better were teams that had joined from another league. Earning a playoff berth in their first season, the Golden Knights eliminated the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

in four straight games during the First Round, becoming the first team in NHL history to sweep their first playoff series in their inaugural season. They later defeated the San Jose Sharks in the Second Round in six games and advanced to the Western Conference Finals. There they defeated the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

in five games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in their inaugural season where they faced the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

, and lost in five games.

Standings

Schedule and results

Preseason

A preliminary preseason schedule was announced in January 2017. The draft schedule was released in April 2017, while the final schedule was released in June 2017.

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 22, 2017.

Playoffs

Player statistics

Final stats

Skaters

Goaltenders

Awards and honours

Milestones

Transactions

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

Trades

Free agents acquired

Free agents lost

Claimed via waivers

Lost via waivers

Players released

Lost via retirement

Player signings

Draft picks

Expansion draft

The team filled its initial roster by selecting players in the

2017 NHL Expansion Draft Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

on June 21, 2017. They were required to select or sign one player, who was not protected, from each existing team. In return for not selecting certain unprotected players, Vegas made several deals to grant concessions with some teams.

Entry draft

Before the draft lottery, the Golden Knights were given the same odds as the team with the third worst point total from the 2016–17 season, which meant that they would not draft any lower than sixth overall and would draft third in each subsequent round. On April 30, 2017, the Golden Knights received a sixth overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft during the draft lottery. Below are the Vegas Golden Knights' selections at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 23 and 24, 2017, at the

United Center United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is named ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Notes: # The

' first-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that sent Columbus' first-round pick in 2017 to Winnipeg in exchange for Vegas selecting Chris Thorburn in the

from Winnipeg, a third-round pick in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and this pick. # The New York Islanders' first-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that ensured that Vegas selected Jean-Francois Berube in the

from the Islanders in exchange for

Mikhail Grabovski Michail Jurjevič Hraboŭski ( Belarusian: Міхаіл Юр'евiч Грабоўскі; born 31 January 1984), better known as Mikhail Grabovski (Russian: Михаил Грабовский), is a German-born Belarusian professional ice hockey ...

, Jake Bischoff, a second-round pick in

and this pick. # The

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

' second-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on June 22, 2017, that sent

Trevor van Riemsdyk Trevor van Riemsdyk (born July 24, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the Stanley Cup in 2015, his rookie season, with the Chicago Blackhawks and has ...

and a seventh-round pick in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

to Carolina in exchange for this pick. # The

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

' fifth-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that ensured that Vegas selected

Connor Brickley Connor Brickley (born February 25, 1992) is an American former professional hockey center, who played with the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the second round, 50th overall, by ...

in the

from Carolina in exchange for this pick. # The

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

' sixth-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that ensured that Vegas selected William Carrier in the

from Buffalo in exchange for this pick.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Vegas Golden Knights season Vegas Golden Knights seasons

Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Western Conference (NHL) championship seasons 2017 in sports in Nevada 2018 in sports in Nevada Events in Paradise, Nevada