2017-18 Season In Review: Jesper Fast

Jesper Fast established career-highs in goals (13), points (33), even strength goals (13), and hits (130), and tied his career-high in assists (20). He led the Rangers in hits and shorthanded assists (two), tied for the team lead in shorthanded points (two), and ranked third in primary assists (14), even strength assists (18), and even strength points (31). He was named the winner of the Players’ Player Award, which is given annually to the player who, as selected by his teammates, “best exemplifies what it means to be a team player” for the third consecutive season; and became the sixth Ranger in franchise history to win the award in at least three straight seasons.

The Rangers posted an 18-6-4 record in games which Fast tallied a point. He led all skaters with seven hits in 15:14 of ice time while making his season debut on Oct. 14 vs. NJD. He registered a goal and established a single-game career-high with a plus-three rating on Oct. 21 vs. NSH. He tied a single-game career-high with two assists on Nov. 4 at FLA.

The NassJo, Sweden native posted his first career NHL multi-goal game in the regular season by tallying two goals on Nov. 22 at CAR. He posted a three-game goal/point streak from Dec. 5 at PIT to Dec. 9 vs. NJD (three goals, one assist over the span); the three-game goal streak is a career-high. Fast recorded two points (one goal, one assist) on Dec. 9 vs. NJD, and notched an assist and posted a plus-one rating in the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1 against BUF. He registered a goal on Jan. 25 at SJS, and registered 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in his final 18 games of the season, including 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in his final 12 contests.

Fast posted a three-game point streak from Feb. 23 vs. MIN to Feb. 28 at VAN (two goals, one assist), and recorded a goal in two consecutive games on Feb. 23 vs. MIN and Feb. 25 vs. DET. He posted a career-high eight-game point streak from Mar. 8 at TBL to Mar. 24 vs. BUF (three goals, seven assists), including a career-high four-game assist streak from Mar. 17 at STL to Mar. 24 vs. BUF (four assists); the eight-game point streak was the longest by a Ranger in 2017- 18. He posted a three-game assist streak from Mar. 8 at TBL to Mar. 12 vs. CAR (three assists), and established a single-game career-high with three points (two goals, one assist) and posted the second multi-goal game of his NHL career on Mar. 22 at PHI.