2024-25 NHL schedule analysis: How each team stacks up

We are officially one month away from the start of the 2024-25 NHL regular season.

The New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres will drop the puck Friday, Oct. 4 in Prague, Czechia as part of the Global Series. They will also play the next evening while the rest of the NHL teams start their seasons between Oct. 8 and 12 with Washington and Anaheim being the final teams to play Oct. 12.

I started this process wanting to see who plays the most back-to-back (BTB) games, but as I researched that I found it was better to look at other things as well and ended up with nine different categories to evaluate the schedules.

Thanks to @TJstats, I included the distance travelled for each team. You will see how many BTBs each team plays and how often they face an opponent who is playing the second night of a BTB. The first three have their league ranking in parentheses. The team with the least distance travelled is first.

We also included their longest home stand, the length of each home stand, the longest road trip, and the length of the road trip. I added the days of the week your favorite team plays games on and then a quirk/difficult part in their schedule.

Here is the breakdown by team, starting with the Atlantic Division, with 4NFO standing for 4 Nations Face-Off.

ATLANTIC DIVISION

Boston Bruins

Distance travelled this season: 41,600 miles (15^th).
Sets of back-to-back games: 10 (T-4^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: Nine (T-27^th).
Longest home stand: Four games (1x) Feb 8^th to 27^th. 4NFO break in between.
Home stands by GP: One (12x), two (5x), three (5x) and four (1x).
Longest road trip: Five games (2x), Dec 10^th to 19^th and Mar 25^th to 29^th.
Road trips by GP: One (13x), two (6x), three (2x) and five (2x).
Games by day of week: Sun (7), Mon (5), Tues (20), Wed (6), Thurs (18), Fri (2) and Sat (24).
Quirk or difficult part of schedule: In the final 14 games of the season, they play in a different city each game: BOS, LVK, SJ, LA, ANA, DET, BOS, MTL, BOS, BUF, NJ, BOS, PIT, and BOS. They also don’t play on a Friday in 2025, so they have the guaranteed same day off every week from January to April.

Buffalo Sabres

Distance travelled this season: 42,400 miles (18^th).
BTB games: 13 (T-20^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 6 (32^nd).
Longest home stand: Five games (1x). Dec 3^rd to 11^th.
Home stands by GP: One (9x), two (5x), three (3x), four (2x) and five (1x).
Longest road trip: Four games (4x). Nov 16^th to 23^rd, Dec 29^th to Jan 4^th, Jan 20^th to 25^th and Mar 17^th to 23^rd.
Road trips by GP: One (9x), two (2x), three (4x) and four (4x).
Games by day of week: Sun (7), Mon (9), Tues (14), Wed (6), Thurs (14), Fri (8) and Sat (24).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They play BTB games on the final four weekends of the season. And they start the season in Europe against New Jersey. From Dec. 11th to Jan. 11th they play 15 games and never in the same city consecutively.

Detroit Red Wings

Distance travelled this season: 36,100 miles (7^th).
BTB games: 8 (2^nd).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 11 (T-21^st).
Longest home stand: Four games (2x). Dec 23^rd to 31^st and Jan 7^th to 14^th.
Home stands by GP: One (8x), two (5x), three (5x) and four (2x).
Longest road trip: Four games (4x). Nov 13^th to 18^th, Jan 16^th to 21^st, Jan 30^th to Feb 4^th and Mar 18^th to 25^th.
Road trips by GP: One (8x), two (7x), three (1x) and four (4x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: From Oct 28^th to Nov 12^th, they only play five games. And their Stadium Series game vs. Columbus on March 1^st will be at Ohio Stadium.

Florida Panthers

Distance travelled this season: 51,100 miles (31^st).
BTB games: 13 (T-20^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 8 (31^st).
Longest home stand: Six games from Nov 2^nd to 16^th.
Home stands by GP: One (5x), two (2x), three (4x), four (1x), five (2x) and six (1x).
Longest road trip: Six games (1x) from March 11th to 22nd.
Road trips by GP: One (4x), two (5x), four (4x), five (1x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They play Dallas in Finland on November 1st and 2nd. From November 27th to December 23rd, they play 14 games in four different time zones, and there are no consecutive games at home. They play in FLA, CAR, FLA, PIT, PHI, FLA, SEA, VAN, CGY, EDM, MIN, FLA, TB and FLA. Ouch.

Montreal Canadiens

Distance travelled this season: 43,300 miles (20^th).
BTB games: 15 (32^nd).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 13 (T-12^th).
Longest home stand: Five games (1x) from December 3^rd to 12^th.
Home stands by GP: One (10x), two (5x), three (4x), four (1x) and five (1x). 
Longest road trip: Six games (1x) from December 23^rd to January 3^rd.
Road trips by GP: One (11x), two (3x), three (2x), four (3x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (8), Mon (8), Tues (16), Wed (6), Thurs (14), Fri (5) and Sat (24).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They play a game on 24 of the 27 Saturdays during the season, and one of those is during the 4 Nations Face-Off, so the only Saturdays they don’t play are February 1^st and March 29^th. They play in Florida and Tampa on December 28^th and 29^th, then fly across the country to face Vegas on New Year’s Eve. That game in Vegas seems like a guaranteed loss, with it being their third game in four days and traveling from Tampa to Vegas.

Ottawa Senators

Distance travelled this season: 32,800 (2^nd). But they only have one return flight in April. The vast majority of their travel occurs by March 31^st.
BTB games: 13 (T-20^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 14 (T-9^th).
Longest home stand: Four games (5x). Nov 19^th to 25^th, Dec 5^th to 11^th, Jan 25^th to Feb 1^st, Apr 1^st to 6^th and Apr 11^th to 17^th.
Home stands by GP: One (11x), two (2x), three (2x) and four (5x).
Longest road trip: Nine games (1x) from Dec 17^th to Jan 7^th. They play in SEA, CGY, VAN, and EDM, then break for Christmas and resume in WPG, MIN, DAL, STL, and DET. They have three sets of BTB on this trip alone. Toughest part of their schedule.
Road trips by GP: One (10x), two (3x), three (4x), four (1x) and nine (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They have a stretch of 14 games in 14 different cities from October 19^th to November 19^th in OTT, UTA, LVK, COL, OTT, NYR, OTT, BUF, OTT, BOS, TOR, OTT, CAR and OTT. They play nine games in April, with only one on the road, but will they be in a playoff hunt to take advantage of the favorable April schedule?

Tampa Bay Lightning

Distance travelled this season: 44,500 miles (24^th).
BTB games: 12 (T-10^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 13 (T-12^th).
Longest home stand: Five games (1x) Jan 28^th to Feb 6^th. 
Home stands by GP: One (2x), two (3x), three (8x), four (1x) and five (1x).
Longest road trip: Four games (4x): Oct 30^th to Nov 5^th, Dec 8^th to 14^th, Jan 20^th to 25^th and Apr 1^st to 7^th.
Road trips by GP: One (4x), two (3x), three (5x) and four (4x).
Games by day of week: Sun (10), Mon (8), Tues (16), Wed (3), Thurs (20), Fri (5) and Sat (20).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They have BTB home and away series with Carolina (first two games of the season) and Florida. They also host Ottawa on consecutive games on Feb 4^th and 6^th. Why the NHL doesn’t have more consecutive games against the same opponent as they did in 2021 makes little sense to me. It saves on travel and usually heightens the emotion of the games. We need more of it.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Distance travelled this season: 37,700 miles (10^th).
BTB games: 14 (T-28^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 13 (T-12^th).
Longest home stand: Four games (3x). Oct 12^th to 21^st, Nov 5^th to 12^th and Mar 13^th to 19^th.
Home stands by GP: One (10x), two (5x), three (3x) and four (3x).
Longest road trip: Four games (2x) Feb 1-8^th, and Feb 23-Mar 2^nd.
Road trips by GP: One (7x), two (10x), three (2x) and four (2x).
Games by day of week: Sun (7), Mon (7), Tues (12), Wed (13), Thurs (12), Fri (5) and Sat (24).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: From Nov 2nd to 13th, they play seven games in 14 days, then from Nov 14th to 30th, they play five games in 16 days, and from Dec 2nd to 15th, they play eight games in 14 days. It is an odd stretch of feast, famine, and feast. 

METROPOLITAN DIVISION

Carolina Hurricanes

Distance travelled this season: 36,800 miles (9^th).
BTB games: 14 (T-28^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 15 (T-6^th).
Longest home stand: Five games from Jan 4^th to 12^th.
Home stands by GP: One (6x), two (4x), three (2x), four (4x) and five (1x).
Longest road trip: Six games from Oct 18^th to 28^th in all four time zones going from PIT, STL, EDM, CGY, SEA and VAN.
Road trips by GP: One (5x), two (6x), three (2x), four (3x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (11), Mon (5), Tues (15), Wed (6), Thurs (15), Fri (11) and Sat (19).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They play 15 games in 28 days between Nov 3^rd and 30^th with eight at home and seven on the road. They don’t play any games on Mondays after Christmas, so they have a regular off-day each week for the season’s final four months. 

Columbus Blue Jackets

Distance travelled this season: 33,400 miles (3^rd).
BTB games: 12 (T-10^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 18 (T-1^st).
Longest home stand: Four games (4x) from Oct 15^th to 22^nd, Nov 21^st to 29^th, Feb 6^th to 25^th (4NFO in between) and Mar 13^th to 20^th.
Home stands by GP: One (7x), two (3x), three (4x) and four (4x).
Longest road trip: Five games (2x). Nov 2^nd to 12^th and Dec 1^st to 8^th.
Road trips by GP: One (7x), two (6x), four (3x) and five (2x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They play four road games, then home for one and back on the road for four. It is essentially a nine-game road trip from Jan 18^th to Feb 04^th. And their Stadium Series game vs. Detroit on March 1^st will be a neutral site game in a yet-to-be-determined venue.

New Jersey Devils

Distance travelled this season: 39,900 miles (12^th).
BTB games: 12 (T-10^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 17 (T-3^rd).
Longest home stand: Five games (1x) from Dec 6^th to 14^th.
Home stands by GP: One (10x), two (6x), three (3x) and five (2x).
Longest road trip: Six games (2x) from Dec 28^th to Jan 9th.
Road trips by GP: One (11x), two (5x), three (3x), five (1x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They play three sets of BTB in their first 11 games. They only play six games in April and five are at home. If they make the playoffs, they should be the most rested team.

New York Islanders

Distance travelled this season: 36,300 miles (8^th).
BTB games: 12 (T-10^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 17 (T-3^rd).
Longest home stand: Seven games (1x). Jan 14^th to 28^th.
Home stands by GP: One (10x), two (7x), three (2x), four (1x) and seven (1x).
Longest road trip: Five games (1x), Nov 12^th to 21^st. 
Road trips by GP: One (10x), two (4x), three (6x) and five (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: In their first 15 games they play 11 games vs. teams who did not make the playoffs last year. Can they take advantage of that and ride a good start to the playoffs?

New York Rangers

Distance travelled this season: 35,300 miles (4^th).
BTB games: 14 (T-28^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 10 (T-23^rd).
Longest home stand: Five games (1x), Nov 30^th to Dec 9^th.
Home stands by GP: One (8x), two (5x), three (2x), four (3x) and five (1x).
Longest road trip: Four games (1x), Nov 17^th to 23^rd.
Road trips by GP: One (8x), two (2x), three (7x) and four (2x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They only have one set of BTB games in their first 23 games in October and November. Then they have 13 in their final 59 games, including a stretch where they have five BTB games during a stretch of 18 games in February and early March. 

Philadelphia Flyers

Distance travelled this season: 35,500 miles (5^th).
BTB games: 12 (T-10^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 10 (T-23^rd).
Longest home stand: Seven games (1x), March 4^th to 15^th.
Home stands by GP: One (10x), two (4x), three (1x), four (2x), five (1x) and seven (1x).
Longest road trip: Six games from Dec 23^rd to Jan 5^th.
Road trips by GP: One (10x), two (5x), three (2x), four (1x), five (1x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They open the season on a four-game road trip out west. They only play two games in the first 11 days of April, and if they can be in the playoff race they will be rested for the playoffs. But they also have a deadly March with 16 games. Another oddity is they play the Penguins three times over a four-game stretch in February. 

Pittsburgh Penguins

Distance travelled this season: 31,700 miles (1^st).
BTB games: 14 (T-28^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 13 (T-12^th).
Longest home stand: Five games (3x) from Nov 16^th to 27^th, Jan 7^th to 14^th and Mar 11^th to 21^st.
Home stands by GP: One (6x), two (7x), three (2x) and five (3x).
Longest road trip: Seven games (1x) from Jan 17^th to 29^th.
Road trips by GP: One (6x), two (3x), three (6x), four (1x) and seven (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They play seven of their first 10 games on the road, then have 11 of their next 16 at home. They also play six sets of BTB in their first 26 games, and Pens fans should have a good idea of how competitive their team will be by the end of those 26 games on November 30^th.

Washington Capitals

Distance travelled this season: 35,600 miles (6^th).
BTB games: 13 (T-20^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 14 (T-9^th).
Longest home stand: Five games (1x) from Feb 23^rd to Mar 3^rd.
Home stands by GP: One (12x), two (6x), three (4x) and five (1x).
Longest road trip: Five games (1x) from Jan 21^st to 30^th.
Road trips by GP: One (12x), two (6x), three (4x) and five (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They have the identical road and home schedule when it comes to the number of games in a home stand or road trip. For instance they have one five-game road trip and one five-game home stand and 12 one-game home stands and 12 one-game road trips. 

CENTRAL DIVISION

Chicago Blackhawks

Distance travelled this season: 40,700 miles (13^th).
BTB games: 12 (T-10^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 13 (T-12^th).
Longest home stand: Five games (2x) from Dec 29^th to Jan 8^th and Mar 23^rd to Apr 2^nd.
Home stands by GP: One (7x), two (5x), three (2x), four (2x) and five (2x).
Longest road trip: Five games (1x) from Oct 26^th to Nov 3^rd.
Road trips by GP: One (8x), two (4x), three (4x), four (2x) and five (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk in schedule: I don’t expect them to be in a playoff race, and neither does the schedule maker as six of their final seven games are against Eastern opponents. It is also interesting to see how different the home start times are for CHI compared to most teams. Many teams have a fairly consistent start time with a few exceptions, usually afternoon games. Chicago is all over the map, with nine different time slots between 2:00 PM and 8:30 PM CT at home.

Colorado Avalanche

Distance travelled this season: 41,300 miles (16^th).
BTB games: 12 (T-10^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 9 (T-27^th).
Longest home stand: Six games (1x) from Feb 26^th to Mar 10^th.
Home stands by GP: One (5x), two (3x), three (1x), four (4x), five (1x) and six (1x).
Longest road trip: Five games (2x) from Dec 3^rd to 10^th and Feb 4^th to 23^rd.
Road trips by GP: One (5x), two (2x), three (6x), four (1x) and five (2x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: The Avs have 16 home stands or road trips of 3-6 games, which makes up 60 of their 82 games. And while they have 12 sets of BTB games, they face a 2024 non-playoff team nine times on the second night. They only face NYR and EDM (twice) in the second half of a back-to-back. 

Dallas Stars

Distance travelled this season: 56,700 miles (32^nd).
BTB games: 11 (T-8^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 11 (T-21^st).
Longest home stand: Six games (1x) from Dec 8^th to 20^th.
Home stands by GP: One (5x), two (5x), three (4x), four (2x) and six (1x).
Longest road trip: Six games (1x) from Feb 4^th to 25^th. They have three games before the 4NFO break and three after.
Road trips by GP: One (8x), two (4x), three (2x), four (2x), five (1x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: From October 27^th to November 6^th they play two games in Finland as part of the Global Series. They have a steady schedule the rest of the way but then finish the season with 18 games in the final 34 days. For a Cup contender, that isn’t an ideal final-month schedule.

Minnesota Wild

Distance travelled this season: 42,200 miles (17^th).
BTB games: 12 (T-10^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 15 (T-6^th).
Longest home stand: Seven games (1x) from Mar 9^th to 22^nd. Also have a six-gamer from Dec 12^th to 20^th.
Home stands by GP: One (6x), two (7x), three (3x), five (1x) and seven (1x).
Longest road trip: Seven games (1x) from Oct 13^th to 29^th.
Road trips by GP: One (5x), two (6x), three (4x), five (1x) and seven (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They open the season with two home games before their seven-game road trip. The trip is early in the season, but there are no BTB games, and they have two days between games twice and three days between games another time. The trip is long but with a lot of rest. The Wild enter the season as a playoff contender, maybe more as a Wildcard team, but in their final 15 games, they only play one Central opponent (DAL, twice). They play seven games vs. the Pacific, facing every team but Edmonton, and have six games vs. Eastern Conference foes. And 14 of their final 19 games are on home ice.

Nashville Predators

Distance travelled this season: 41,100 miles (14^th).
BTB games: 11 (T-8^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 13 (T-12^th).
Longest home stand: Five games (2x) from Jan 11^th to 21^st and Feb 8^th to 27^th.
Home stands by GP: One (7x), two (5x), three (2x), four (2x) and five (2x).
Longest road trip: Six games (1x) from Dec 27^th to Jan 7^th.
Road trips by GP: One (5x), two (6x), three (3x), four (1x), five (1x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (5), Mon (9), Tues (15), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (8) and Sat (23).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They play Detroit twice all season, and both games occur in their first five games of the season. They play Edmonton three times, and all three games are done by Game 17. 

St. Louis Blues

Distance travelled this season: 38,700 miles (11^th).
BTB games: 10 (T-4^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 14 (T-9^th).
Longest home stand: Six games (1x) from Feb 4^th to 26^th. 4NFO in the middle.
Home stands by GP: One (6x), two (3x), three (2x), four (3x), five (1x) and six (1x).
Longest road trip: Six games from Mar 2^nd to 13^th.
Road trips by GP: One (4x), two (4x), three (5x), four (2x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (8), Mon (5), Tues (19), Wed (6), Thurs (16), Fri (8) and Sat (22).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: During their six-game road trip they play LA twice, but not consecutively. They play LA, ANA and then LA again. They play LA three times in a five-game span between March 1^st and 8^th. 

Utah Hockey Club

Distance travelled this season: 48,700 miles (28^th).
BTB games: 12 (T-10^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 12 (20^th).
Longest home stand: Seven games from Jan 8^th to 20^th.
Home stands by GP: One (5x), two (4x), three (3x), four (2x), five (1x) and seven (1x).
Longest road trip: Four games (5x) from Oct 10^th to 16^th, Nov 2^nd to 9^th, Nov 21^st to 26^th, Dec 30^th to Jan 4^th and Feb 6^th to 27^th.
Road trips by GP: One (3x), two (3x), three (4x) and four (5x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (10), Tues (13), Wed (7), Thurs (15), Fri (10) and Sat (18).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: They play BTB games in their final two games before the 4NFO and their first two games after the 4NFO. They have an 18-game stretch between Nov 18th and Dec 22^nd where they play in a different city each game: UTA, BOS, PIT, TOR, MTL, UTA, LVK, UTA, BUF, PHI, UTA, COL, UTA, COL, SJ, UTA, MIN and UTA. 

Winnipeg Jets

Distance travelled this season: 48,200 miles (T-27^th).
BTB games: 6 (1^st).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 9 (T-27^th).
Longest home stand: Eight games from Jan 2^nd to 18^th.
Home stands by GP: One (7x), two (5x), four (4x) and eight (1x).
Longest road trip: Six games from Nov 22^nd to December 1^st.
Road trips by GP: One (4x), two (6x), three (5x), four (1x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (11), Mon (7), Tues (17), Wed (7), Thurs (13), Fri (11) and Sat (16).
Quirk or difficult part of schedule: They have a 15-game sequence in which all 15 games are in different cities between Nov 9th and Dec 8th: WPG, NYR, TB, FLA, WPG, PIT, NSH, MIN, LA, VGK, DAL, WPG, BUF, CHI, and WPG.

PACIFIC DIVISION

Anaheim Ducks

Distance travelled this season: 51,000 miles (30^th).
BTB games: 13 (T-20^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 18 (T-1^st).
Longest home stand: Six games from Nov 3^rd to Nov 15^th.
Home stands by GP: One (3x), two (7x), three (3x), four (1x), five (1x) and six (1x).
Longest road trip: Six games from Jan 9^th to 18^th.
Road trips by GP:  One (4x), two (8x), three (1x), four (3x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (17), Mon (5), Tues (16), Wed (11), Thurs (11), Fri (11) and Sat (11).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: The Ducks have missed the playoffs the past six seasons and are expected to extend that to seven. They didn’t get many breaks during the second half of their back-to-back games as 10 of them are against quality teams in Vegas (2x), Edmonton (2x), Carolina, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg. However, they are tied with Columbus with 18 games against an opponent who is on the second half of a back-to-back. They start the season with seven of their first 10 games on the road.

Calgary Flames

Distance travelled this season: 44,400 miles (23^rd).
BTB games: 10 (T-4^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 10 (T-23^rd).
Longest home stand: Five games from Dec 12^th to 21^st.
Home stands by GP: One (5x), two (4x), three (5x), four (2x) and five (1x).
Longest road trip: Six games from Feb 25^th to Mar 6^th.
Road trips by GP: One (5x), two (6x), three (2x), four (3x) and six (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (7), Tues (19), Wed (6), Thurs (16), Fri (5) and Sat (20).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: Flames fans will only see three Pacific division opponents on home ice in the first three months with EDM (Nov 3^rd), LA (Nov 11^th) and VAN (Dec 31^st). That is three of their first 19 home games. Fifteen of their final 25 games are on the road, and that stretch begins right around the trade deadline. if they are a seller, as many expect, they could improve their draft lottery odds in the season’s final few months. 

Edmonton Oilers

Distance travelled this season: 50,000 miles (29^th).
BTB games: 13 (T-20^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 13 (T-12^th).
Longest home stand: Six games from Jan 21^st to Feb 1^st.
Home stands by GP: One (4x), two (6x), three (2x), four (2x), five (1x) and six (1x).
Longest road trip: Five games from Feb 22^nd to Mar 1^st.
Road trips by GP: One (5x), two (3x), three (3x), four (4x) and five (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (8), Mon (9), Tues (14), Wed (7), Thurs (17), Fri (6) and Sat (21).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: None of their BTB games occur both on Saturday and Sunday, which is odd as Western teams typically have a few of those on eastern road trips. Their final 15 games are against Western Conference opponents, including 10 vs. Pacific opponents. The NHL is talking about extending the season so they will have an equal number of games within the division. That works, but the easier change would be having 28 games in the division and only 22 vs. the other division in your conference. It is odd EDM only plays VAN and CGY three times this season while also playing every Central team three times. 

Los Angeles Kings

Distance travelled this season: 44,100 miles (22^nd).
BTB games: 13 (T-20^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 15 (T-6^th).
Longest home stand: Six games from Feb 5^th to 26^th.
Home stands by GP: One (1x), two (5x), three (5x), four (1x), five (1x) and six (1x).
Longest road trip: Seven games (2x) from Oct 10^th to 22^nd and Dec 10^th to 22^nd.
Road trips by GP: One (6x), two (4x), three (1x), five (2x) and seven (2x).
Games by day of week: Sun (6), Mon (12), Tues (9), Wed (13), Thurs (13), Fri (4) and Sat (25).
Quirk or difficult part of schedule: Starting the season on a seven-game road trip is odd. The Kings play 21 of their first 34 games on the road, and 31 of their first 51 games are on the road. It is a killer schedule, and if they are in a playoff spot or close by February 1st, LA fans should be pretty happy. They finish the season with 21 home games and only 10 on the road. Twenty-four of the Kings’ 41 road games occur during four road trips. Crazy. They also play a league-high 25 games on Saturday.

San Jose Sharks

Distance travelled this season: 43,400 miles (21^st).
BTB games: 13 (T-20^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 10 (T-23^rd).
Longest home stand: Eight games from Mar 8^th to 29^th.
Home stands by GP: One (4x), two (1x), three (4x), four (1x), five (1x), six (1x) and eight (1x). 
Longest road trip: Seven games from Feb 23^rd to Mar 6^th.
Road trips by GP: One (2x), two (3x), three (1x), four (3x), five (1x), six (1x) and seven (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (5), Mon (11), Tues (15), Wed (4), Thurs (21), Fri (5) and Sat (21).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: Large chunks of their season consist of long road trips or home stands. They have a league-high 10 road trips or home stands of 4+ games. Coming out of the 4NFO, they have a seven-game road trip followed by an eight-game home stand. 

Seattle Kraken

Distance travelled this season: 48,200 miles (T-27^th).
BTB games: 12 (T-10^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 9 (T-27^th).
Longest home stand: Six games from Nov 8^th to 20^th.
Home stands by GP: One (3x), two (2x), three (2x), four (3x), five (2x) and six (1x).
Longest road trip: Five games (3x) from Oct 29^th to Nov 5^th, Jan 9^th to Jan 16^th and Apr 2^nd to 10^th.
Road trips by GP: One (2x), two (1x), three (2x), four (4x) and five (3x).
Games by day of week: Sun (10), Mon (7), Tues (18), Wed (5), Thurs (16), Fri (4) and Sat (21).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: Their final 26 games of the season included 16 on the road. If they are going to push for a playoff spot they will need to be in a good spot heading into the 4NFO break.

Vancouver Canucks

Distance travelled this season: 42,500 miles (19^th).
BTB games: 10 (T-4^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 13 (T-12^th).
Longest home stand: Six games (2x) from Nov 9^th to 19^th and Dec 6^th to 16^th.
Home stands by GP: One (3x), two (4x), three (6x), four (1x) and six (2x).
Longest road trip: Six games (2x) from Nov 23^rd to Dec 3^rd and Mar 20^th to 30^th.
Road trips by GP: One (3x), two (3x), three (2x), four (1x), five (2x) and six (2x).
Games by day of week: Sun (9), Mon (7), Tues (15), Wed (12), Thurs (12), Fri (8) and Sat (19).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: Vancouver and LA are the only teams with four road trips of 5+ games. The Canucks only have 13 total road trips and 14 home stands. 

Vegas Golden Knights

Distance travelled this season: 41,600 miles (8^th).
BTB games: 13 (20^th).
Facing a team playing second night of BTB: 16 (5^th).
Longest home stand: Five games from Feb 27^th to Mar 9^th.
Home stands by GP: One (5x), two (4x), three (5x) four (2x) and five (1x).
Longest road trip: Five games from Nov 20^th to 27^th.
Road trips by GP: One (6x), two (2x), three (6x), four (2x) and five (1x).
Games by day of week: Sun (12), Mon (6), Tues (13), Wed (9), Thurs (14), Fri (11) and Sat (17).
Quirk or difficult part in schedule: 15 game stretch in different cities between Oct 28^th and Nov 29^th: VGK, LA, VGK, EDM, SEA, VGK, ANA, UTA, VGK, TOR, OTT, MTL, PHI, COL and VGK. They finish the season with 12 games against the West, and if they are in a tight playoff race, they will have a good opportunity to control their playoff seeding.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There is no perfect formula for ranking the most favouable to most challenging schedule, but travel, back-to-back games, and playing teams in the second half of a back-to-back do give us some insight into which teams might have more favorable schedules.

Again, this system is far from perfect, but if you rank the teams based on those three categories and weigh them equally, this is how it plays out: 

The Columbus Blue Jackets have the most favorable schedule. They have the third least travel, rank 10^th in BTB games and are tied for the most games against an opponent playing the second half of a BTB.

Meanwhile, the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, have the most challenging in those three categories. 

Do I think it will have a significant impact on where they finish in the standings? Probably not, as the Panthers are a very deep team, while Columbus is young and rebuilding, but it could be a factor in allowing Columbus to win more games, or cost the Panthers home ice advantage.

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