In the past, I have done what I call a “Playoff Manifesto” for those of you that play head to head fantasy hockey. For the last 4-5 weeks of the regular season, which covers when fantasy playoffs take place, I do a thorough breakdown of the NHL schedule. As a change from the past, I’m going to do this in three parts. I used to do one massive post which was a bit of information overload, so I’m going to change it up. Today, I’m going to cover all of the days that have five or less games taking place; what I like to call a light day. These days are crucial because this is when you can maximize your starts via streaming. You won’t need to stream when there’s 12 games, but you definitely will want to when there’s only three. In part two, I will look at each Eastern Conference team’s individual schedule and how good the schedule is for both holding and streaming. Then, I will wrap it up with the Western Conference. They will be out on Tuesday and Wednesday. And without further adieu, let’s get to it!
Light Days:
March 18th: There are two games… BUF@SEA, and WSH@CAL
March 20th: There are three games… ARZ@DAL, MIN@LAK, and TOR@WSH
March 22nd: There are four games… ARZ@SEA, CAR@WSH, CBJ@COL, PIT@DAL
March 25th: There are two games… LAK@VAN, VGK@STL
March 27th: There are two games… BOS@TBL, OTT@BUF
March 29th: There is one game… NJD@BUF
March 31st: There is one game… ANA@VAN
April 3rd: There are five games… VAN@ARZ, EDM@DAL, SEA@LAK, NJD@NYR, TBL@TOR
April 8th: There are two games… PIT@TOR, VGK@VAN
April 10th: There are three games… ARZ@VAN, CHI@STL, VGK@EDM
April 12th: There are five games… CAL@ANA, ARZ@EDM, CAR@STL, NSH@CHI, MIN@VGK
April 14th: There are four games… ARZ@CAL, CAR@CHI, COL@VGK, SEA@STL
April 17th: There are four games… EDM@ARZ, STL@DAL, PIT@NYI, TOR@TBL
Total games on light days for each team:
For clarification, week one for these purposes is the current week. Week four is only those seven days, not including the four days after when there is only the one light day
Ducks (2), Coyotes (5, including three in week four), Bruins (1), Sabres (3, two in week two), Flames (3), Canes (3), Blackhawks (3, all in week 4), Avalanche (2), Blue Jackets (1), Stars (4), Red Wings (0), Oilers (4), Panthers (0), Kings (3), Wild (2), Canadiens (0), Predators (1)
Devils (2), Isles (1), Rangers (1), Senators (1), Flyers (0), Penguins (3), Sharks (0), Kraken (4, including two this week), Blues (5, including three week four), Lightning (2), Leafs (4), Canucks (5, two in two separate weeks), Golden Knights (5, including 4 in week four!), Capitals (3, all this week), Jets (0)
As you can see, there is a wide discrepancy. We have seven teams that play on none of these days, which is going to severely limit all of their streamers. On the other hand, you have some excellent streaming spots for the Capitals, Coyotes, and Golden Knights. More on each team’s specific situation coming up tomorrow!
As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
