Weekly NHL Forecaster December 26th – December 31st

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: The injury plagued Anaheim Ducks get three home matches and the first and last (Golden Knights & Coyotes) are bottom 6 defenses. Chris Wagner (11% owned) has been playing well as of late and provides more beyond just points. Adam Henrique (23%) who has 8 points in 8 games since his trade to Anaheim. Calgary will be their larger challenge. Finally, the Blackhawks have a Canada trip on the road facing Canucks, Oilers and Flames, all are sub-average at home with the Oilers and Flames being two of the worst 3 home teams defensively.

Goalies: A VERY good week for Mike Smith who goes up against the Sharks (5^th worst offense at home), Ducks (6^th worst at home) and Blackhawks (6^th worst offense on the road) means the Flames defense and goalies should be good this week.

Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images

Power Play: Anaheim’s three opponents aforementioned are not very good on the penalty kill either Vegas and Calgary are among the five worst PK units and Arizona is very average. The Bruins are another team with a good week for their power play. They face the Senators (7^th worst PK unit), Capitals (10^th worst unit) and then the Senators again on the road. The worst PP unit (Blackhawks) face two of the worst five PK units in Oilers and Flames, this should be fun to watch. If I stress nothing else – pick up ANY JET who could POSSIBLY be on a PP unit this week (Jacob Trouba, Bryan Little, Kyle Connor or even Joel Armia), with two matches against the Oilers and one against the Islanders they get the three games against the worst two units in the league.

Penalty Kill: The Calgary Flames get s second consecutive week facing weaker power play units. They play the Sharks and Ducks (both tied for 13^th worst PP units) and the Blackhawks who are the 3^rd worst PP unit. I find it amazing that the Blackhawks and Kings are not only the best five PK units but the worst five PP units – this is good for Vancouver who faces both this week.

Unfavorable:

Offense: The Golden Knights have the Kings defense (and Jonathan Quick) not to mention the Maple Leafs defense (with red hot Frederik Andersen). San Jose has the strong Stars defense and Flames defensive units, in addition, the Sharks are terrible on offense. Finally the Blues have the Predators, Stars and Hurricanes, this is not an easy stretch to go through.

Goalies: King Henrik Lundqvist has to go up against the Capitals and Red Wings this week, both high flying offensive units this year. Conversely both squads are terrible on defense so expect some high scoring affairs.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Power Play: Vegas has the Kings and Ducks (both top ten PK units). The Minnesota Wild need to avoid all non 5v5 hockey, they play the Stars and Predators who both have very respectable Power Play AND Penalty Kill units. Vancouver gets the Blackhawks (who are terrible on the Power Play but great on the Penalty Kill) and the Kings (best PK unit in the league).

Penalty Kill: Minnesota Wild – see above. New York Rangers – see above, lots of goals ahead all around for their week. The Flyers are on the road for a Florida trip which means they face a lethal Lightning PP unit