The 2017–18 Alaska Nanooks men's ice hockey season was the 69th season of play for the program, the 34th at the Division I level and the 5th in the WCHA conference. The Nanooks represented the University of Alaska Fairbanks and were coached by Lance West, in his 1st season.

After the resignation of Dallas Ferguson, long-time assistant coach Lance West was promoted to interim head coach while the school decided who would lead the program.^[1]

The team got off to a bit of a slow start, going winless in its first four games. A sweep of arch-rival Alaska Anchorage got the team on the winning side of the ledger entering conference play, however, the Nanooks weren't able to get many wins afterwards. After notching one victory in their next seven matches, the team started showing some jam when they took down #20 Northern Michigan, 4–1. After a second sweep of the Seawolves, Alaska looked to be well positioned when they split with #8 Minnesota State in mid-January, however, goaltending became a problem afterwards. Neither regular starter Anton Martinsson nor backup Niko Della Maggiore were able to keep the puck out of the net on several occasions. Unfortunately, even when they were, the offense usually failed to do much. Alaska went 2–9–1 in their last 11 games and, other than their sweep of Ferris State, Alaska wasn't able to muster much in the way of scoring. To make matters worse, they faced Alaska Anchorage in the regular season finale and were swept at home. The two wins for the Seawolves were half of their total for the year and seemed to take the fight out of the Nanooks.

Alaska just held onto the 8th and final spot for the WCHA Tournament and the team's reward was to face Minnesota State, who had now risen to #3 in the polls. Alaska was trounced in the two games, getting outshot 45–78 and outscored 4–14. After the team's melt-down in the later part of the season, Alaska decided not to retain Lance West and instead turned the team over to his assistant, Erik Largen.^[2]

More information No., S/P/C ...

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Niko Della Maggiore	Sophomore	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1995-04-01	Gilroy, California	Springfield Jr. Blues (NAHL)	—
2		Jack Weiss	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1994-05-30	Bloomington, Minnesota	Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (NAHL)	—
5		Nikolas Koberstein	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1996-01-19	Barrhead, Alberta	Bloomington Thunder (USHL)	MTL, 125th overall 2014
6		Zach Frye (A)	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1994-03-25	Spokane, Washington	Lincoln Stars (USHL)	—
8		Justin Woods (C)	Senior (RS)	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	1994-02-12	Fairbanks, Alaska	Lincoln Stars (USHL)	—
9		Justin Young	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	1997-12-23	Leduc, Alberta	Whitecourt Wolverines (AJHL)	—
10		Danny Kiraly	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1995-08-03	Glendale, Arizona	Odessa Jackalopes (NAHL)	—
11		Steven Jandric	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1997-08-18	Prince George, British Columbia	Vernon Vipers (BCHL)	—
12		Nick Hinz	Senior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1993-03-06	Oakdale, Minnesota	Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)	—
13		Austin Vieth	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1993-12-20	Marinette, Wisconsin	Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)	—
14		Brennan Blaszczak	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1996-03-12	Troy, Michigan	Springfield Jr. Blues (NAHL)	—
15		Troy Van Tetering	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-04-26	Carstairs, Alberta	Lloydminster Bobcats (AJHL)	—
16		Tayler Munson (A)	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	1993-03-02	Fairbanks, Alaska	Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)	—
17		Kyle Froese	Junior (RS)	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1994-08-09	Traverse City, Michigan	Corpus Christi IceRays (NAHL)	—
20		Max Newton	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-11-14	Vancouver, British Columbia	Cowichan Valley Capitals (BCHL)	—
22		Chad Staley	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1994-06-29	Kennewick, Washington	Prince George Spruce Kings (BCHL)	—
23		Ryker Leer	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1995-12-05	Red Deer, Alberta	Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)	—
24		James LaDouce	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	213 lb (97 kg)	1995-08-24	Saginaw, Michigan	Minot Minotauros (NAHL)	—
25		Aaron Herdt	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1995-08-19	Moorhead, Minnesota	Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL)	—
26		Tyler Cline	Sophomore	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1995-09-03	Blaine, Minnesota	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
27		Colton Leiter	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1996-01-16	Edmonton, Alberta	Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL)	—
28		Kylar Hope	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1995-08-17	Lashburn, Saskatchewan	West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)	—
32		Tristan Thompson	Sophomore	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-01-02	Canmore, Alberta	Brooks Bandits (AJHL)	—
33		Anton Martinsson	Sophomore	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	1995-12-11	Klippan, Sweden	Amarillo Bulls (NAHL)	—
35		Tony Rehm	Freshman	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-06-29	Madison, Wisconsin	Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)	—
36		Kyle Marino	Sophomore	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1995-06-01	Niagara Falls, Ontario	West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)	—
39		Ross Heidt	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1996-03-29	Red Deer, Alberta	Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)	—

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USCHO did not release a poll in Week 24.^[6]