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 Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...

. They played their home games at

T-Mobile Arena T-Mobile Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Paradise, Nevada, United States. 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 ...

on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard 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 limits ...

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...

. 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 (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its 25-year 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 1 ...

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. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

, 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; 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 Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

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 Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

in five games to advance to the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

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 Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

, 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

Lost via retirement

Player signings

Draft picks

Expansion draft

The team filled its initial roster by selecting players in the

2017 NHL expansion draft The 2017 NHL expansion draft was an expansion draft conducted by the National Hockey League on June 18–20, 2017 to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 2017–18 season, the Vegas Golden Knights. The team's selections were an ...

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

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. 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 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and this pick. # The

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

' 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, 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. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

' second-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on June 22, 2017, that sent Trevor van Riemsdyk and a seventh-round pick in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The 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 Americans, American former professional ice hockey, hockey Center (ice hockey), center, who played with the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was sele ...

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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

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