He played predominantly in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames and the Colorado Avalanche.

On October 1, 2002, prior to the 2002–03 season, Shantz was traded by the Flames, along with Derek Morris and Dean McAmmond, to the Colorado Avalanche for Chris Drury and Stephane Yelle.

[1] He played 642 regular season games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche scoring 72 goals and 139 assists for 211 points with 341 penalty minutes.

In 53 games with Klagenfurt, Jeff finished fourth on the team with 17 goals and 48 points to help KAC win the Austrian Championship and as a result signed a one-year contract extension on April 23, 2009.

After Shantz had formally announced retirement as a player it was expected that he would join the coaching ranks of KAC.