2025-26 Fantasy Hockey Strength of Schedule

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