Weekly NHL Forecaster December 18th – December 24th

Below is a breakdown of the seventh week of NHL games in the 2017-2018 season (can you believe we are about 25% into the season?!?) . The graph breaks down the schedule and the strength of the opponent in goals for, goals against, their power play and penalty kill and ranks it against the rest of the league on a scale from 1-31 (with 31 being the worst) So the higher the average ranks you see for an opponent the better schedule that team has. It factors in how well a team does at home vs. on the road as well.

*Stats are as of 12/8/2017

Favorable:

Offense: Arizona Coyotes get another week of favorable matchups going against the Panthers, Capitals and Avalanche, two of the three are among the bottom 3 in defense. Besides 3% Dylan Strome who I think will have a good second half of the year, some options include Max Domi (15% owned) and Anthony Duclair (2% owne). Finally the Hurricanes have it good with the Maple Leafs, Predators and Sabres.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Goalies: Arizona Coyotes – same assumption from before holds true on offense as well (just swap the Capitals for the Panthers). The Bruins have an easier week for their offense with the Sabres, Jets and Red Wings. The Avalanche get the Penguins (who struggle on the road) and the Kings and Coyotes (who struggle at home). The Islanders get the Red Wings, Ducks and Jets, all in the bottom third on offense in their respective home/away situation (Jets stink on the road)

Power Play: Arizona Coyotes – all three teams are in the bottom third in Penalty Kill. The Flames face two teams that really want to keep things at 5v5 as both the Blues and Canadiens struggle on special teams. The Canadiens get the Canucks, Flames and Oilers (the latter two are among the 3 worst PK units). Finally the Blues will have a strong power play week on a west coast trip against the Flames, Oilers and Canucks

Penalty Kill: The Calgary Flames get a breather on PK with the Blues, and Canadiens both among the bottom 9 in power play units. The Flyers go up against the Kings, Red Wings Sabres and Blue Jackets, three of those four teams are among the 6 worst Power Play teams.

Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images

Unfavorable:

Offense: The Blue Jackets have a rough week – the Bruins, Maple Leafs, Penguins and Flyers is not an easy stretch. The Flyers nice 5 game streak might come to a halt as their offense hits a brick wall in the Kings, Red Wings, Sabres and Blue Jackets.

Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

Goalies: Bob better be ready this week as they face the Bruins, Maple Leafs, Penguins and Flyers, the later 3 are among the top 10 offenses in their respective home/away situation. The Golden Knights have it rough with the Lightning (I don’t want to face Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov), and Washington Capitals (oh and I don’t want Alex Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom either).

Power Play: Chicago had one easy week now it’s back to the grind with the Stars and Devils, both tied as the 8^th best penalty kill units. The Devils power play unit gets the Ducks (7^th best PK unit), Rangers (15^th best) and Blackhawks (5^th best). Not good for Nico Hischier. The Flyers have it great on the PK but on PP the same teams are excellent (Kings, Red Wings and Blue Jackets).

Penalty Kill: The Anaheim Ducks have a formidable PP matchup this week going against the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, the New York Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins. All four teams are among the top 12 teams on the power play this year, NOT GOOD for the Ducks. The Golden Knights aforementioned tandem of Lightning and Capitals is brutal from a PK perspective too.