 Goaltender Pekka Rinne and the Predators' defense marginalized the Blackhawks' offense, limiting the team to only three total goals in the series, including a pair of shutouts in Game 1 (1–0) and Game 2 (5–0) at the United Center to begin the series.Prior to the 2017–18 season, the Blackhawks revealed Marian Hossa would miss the entire 2017–18 season due to a progressive skin disorder.The team made two major trades before the 2017 NHL Entry Draft; veteran defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Connor Murphy and Laurent Dauphin, while Artemi Panarin was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets to reacquire Brandon Saad in a four-player deal.