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2025-26 Fantasy Hockey Strength of Schedule
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2025-26 Fantasy Hockey Strength of Schedule

Originally posted on Daily Faceoff  |  By Brock Seguin  |  Last updated Sep 6, 2025 1:44 PM ET

In Fantasy Hockey, one of the keys to victory is maximizing the number of games played. It’s not always about who you draft, but when and who your players are playing against can play a key role. A soft schedule or a few extra “light night” games can make a huge difference.

I’ve broken the schedule down into three sections.

  1. Fantasy Hockey Regular Season — Week 1 to Week 21
  2. Fantasy Hockey Playoffs — Week 22, 23 and 24
  3. Full Fantasy Hockey Season (entire 82-game schedule)

The Strength of Schedule calculation includes three layers:

1. Number of Games

  • More games = more chances for fantasy production

2. Quality of Opponents

  • Not all games are equal; facing weak defensive teams increases your chances for fantasy production.
  • I ranked each team using defensive metrics (Shot Volume Against, Shot Quality Against, Goaltending Quality, Etc.)
  • High Score = Easier Matchup, Low Score = Difficult Matchup

3. Light Nights

  • A light night is classified by eight games or fewer on a given night.
  • More light night games = more opportunity to get these players into your lineup instead of leaving them on the bench.

Fantasy Hockey Regular Season

The Fantasy Hockey Regular Season is long, so more importance is put on the total number of games and the quality of the opponents, but Light Nights are still a factor. The Utah Mammoth have the best Fantasy Regular Season Schedule because they rank:

  • t-1st in Number of Games (71)
  • 7th in Opponent Quality (51.64)
  • 1st in Light Nights (35)

Strength of Schedule shouldn’t be the only factor you consider on draft day, but using it as a tiebreaker can help you make tough decisions. When only considering Fantasy Regular Season Strength of Schedule, Clayton Keller (ADP: 38.5) will likely help you make the Fantasy Playoffs more than Robert Thomas (ADP: 40.0), considering the Mammoth have the No.1 Strength of Schedule and the Blues rank 27th.

Team # of Gms Opp Rating Light Nights SOS Score
Utah Mammoth 71 51.64 35 83.36
Vegas Golden Knights 71 51.75 27 80.49
Washington Capitals 71 50.65 30 75.62
Los Angeles Kings 70 52.18 27 70.19
Pittsburgh Penguins 70 52.04 26 66.76
Edmonton Oilers 71 50.65 21 60.98
Carolina Hurricanes 70 50.23 26 52.27
Vancouver Canucks 69 51.88 25 52.08
Toronto Maple Leafs 71 49.87 22 51.31
Boston Bruins 70 51.67 16 50.18
Ottawa Senators 69 52.80 22 50.00
Minnesota Wild 71 49.82 22 49.83
New York Islanders 71 49.76 23 49.53
Detroit Red Wings 70 50.12 26 49.35
Calgary Flames 70 49.70 28 43.74
New Jersey Devils 69 50.06 29 41.76
Buffalo Sabres 71 47.89 23 40.80
Philadelphia Flyers 69 50.38 25 40.47
New York Rangers 70 49.36 27 38.24
Winnipeg Jets 70 49.80 24 38.22
Anaheim Ducks 70 47.30 33 37.59
Montreal Canadiens 69 50.88 18 36.59
Colorado Avalanche 69 50.79 21 36.45
Tampa Bay Lightning 69 50.19 24 35.65
Chicago Blackhawks 70 45.31 32 31.13
Florida Panthers 69 49.92 23 29.36
St. Louis Blues 69 49.22 27 25.49
Columbus Blue Jackets 70 48.17 22 25.04
Seattle Kraken 69 49.61 25 24.49
Dallas Stars 70 46.42 24 23.73
Nashville Predators 70 47.14 18 17.43
San Jose Sharks 68 45.71 21 3.38

Fantasy Hockey Playoffs

Making the playoffs is only half the battle. Once you get there, you want players with great schedules. You also want roster flexibility so that you can stream players and maximize your games played, which is more important in a one-week head-to-head than a 21-week marathon. So, for the Fantasy Hockey playoffs, added importance was placed on “Light Night” games.

When you first looked at the Fantasy Regular Season Schedule, you were probably nervous about drafting Macklin Celebrini (ADP: 43.0). But now that you’ve seen the Fantasy Playoffs Schedule, he could be the key to your Fantasy Hockey Championship. Conversely, those Utah and Vegas players who helped you get to the playoffs have by far the worst playoff schedule.

Team # of Gms Opp Rating Light Nights SOS Score
San Jose Sharks 14 53.68 6 86.46
St. Louis Blues 13 54.43 5 75.65
Florida Panthers 13 64.65 3 64.34
Buffalo Sabres 11 61.37 5 62.09
Tampa Bay Lightning 13 63.06 3 62.07
New York Rangers 12 50.18 7 60.80
New Jersey Devils 13 61.33 3 59.83
Philadelphia Flyers 13 57.42 3 57.55
Ottawa Senators 13 44.40 4 54.16
Chicago Blackhawks 12 52.72 4 52.89
Anaheim Ducks 12 48.85 5 52.89
Colorado Avalanche 13 41.18 4 49.64
Vancouver Canucks 13 40.46 4 48.52
Nashville Predators 12 57.78 3 46.14
Toronto Maple Leafs 11 52.69 4 44.03
Carolina Hurricanes 12 63.13 2 42.74
Boston Bruins 12 44.73 4 42.74
Montreal Canadiens 13 41.75 3 36.13
Columbus Blue Jackets 12 57.24 2 35.95
Washington Capitals 11 54.99 3 35.00
New York Islanders 11 54.23 3 32.73
Seattle Kraken 13 34.50 3 30.46
Detroit Red Wings 12 46.61 3 29.20
Dallas Stars 12 52.21 2 28.04
Los Angeles Kings 12 42.79 3 25.80
Winnipeg Jets 12 49.09 2 24.68
Calgary Flames 12 41.97 3 24.68
Pittsburgh Penguins 12 36.33 3 19.05
Edmonton Oilers 11 49.37 2 18.06
Minnesota Wild 11 47.01 1 13.55
Vegas Golden Knights 11 37.59 2 4.52
Utah Mammoth 11 32.93 2 1.12

Full Fantasy Hockey Season

When you consider the entirety of the NHL Season, the Devils’ skaters have the best Strength of Schedule. They have rank 16th during the Fantasy Regular Season and 7th in the Fantasy Playoffs. The stark difference between playoff schedules and the overall balance of the Devils’ schedule should be considered when you’re deciding between Jack Hughes (ADP: 20.5) and Mitch Marner (ADP: 20.5) on draft day.

Similarly, the Carolina Hurricanes have a very balanced schedule (7th in the regular season and 16th in the playoffs). In contrast, the Dallas Stars have a seemingly horrific schedule all year (30th in the Regular Season and 24th in the playoffs). This should be considered when trying to decide between Sebastian Aho (ADP: 62.5) and Wyatt Johnston (ADP: 63.5) or picking between Seth Jarvis (ADP: 81.0) or Roope Hintz (ADP: 86.0).

Team # of Gms Opp Rating Light Nights SOS Score
New Jersey Devils 82 51.84 32 87.39
Washington Capitals 82 51.23 33 82.55
Tampa Bay Lightning 82 52.23 27 80.33
Carolina Hurricanes 82 52.12 28 79.97
Florida Panthers 82 52.26 26 76.78
Los Angeles Kings 82 50.81 30 76.44
Philadelphia Flyers 82 51.50 28 75.49
Ottawa Senators 82 51.47 26 65.51
St. Louis Blues 82 50.05 32 64.85
Vancouver Canucks 82 50.07 29 61.30
Vegas Golden Knights 82 49.85 29 56.75
Pittsburgh Penguins 82 49.74 29 54.51
New York Islanders 82 50.36 26 54.17
Edmonton Oilers 82 50.48 23 52.61
New York Rangers 82 49.48 34 51.94
Boston Bruins 82 50.65 20 51.94
Toronto Maple Leafs 82 50.25 26 51.93
Buffalo Sabres 82 49.70 28 48.40
Detroit Red Wings 82 49.61 29 47.72
Utah Hockey Club 82 49.13 37 44.86
Anaheim Ducks 82 47.53 38 39.03
Winnipeg Jets 82 49.70 26 38.42
Calgary Flames 82 48.57 31 34.49
Columbus Blue Jackets 82 49.50 24 31.92
Chicago Blackhawks 82 46.40 36 28.05
Minnesota Wild 82 49.44 23 25.52
Colorado Avalanche 82 49.27 25 23.88
Montreal Canadiens 82 49.43 21 21.26
Seattle Kraken 82 47.22 28 19.07
San Jose Sharks 82 47.07 27 14.81
Nashville Predators 82 48.70 21 14.54
Dallas Stars 82 47.27 26 13.57

This article first appeared on Daily Faceoff and was syndicated with permission.

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