Strength of schedule
Carolina Hurricanes Strength of Schedule 2026-27
Carolina Hurricanes faces the 22nd-easiest remaining schedule in the NHL: −0.44 standings points against an average slate over 73 games (opponents' points % .566). Over the next 10 days: 4 games, the 24th-easiest slate (−0.11), 0 on off-nights and 0 back-to-backs.
| Window | GP | H/R | Edge | Rank | Opp P% | Opp xGF% | B2B | Rest +/− | Off-night | Travel km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| So far | 11 | 4/7 | +0.87 | 2 | .508 | 47.1 | 3 | 1/4 | 5 | 9,036 |
| Next 10 days | 4 | 2/2 | −0.11 | 24 | .575 | 50.6 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 4,305 |
| Rest of season | 73 | 38/35 | −0.44 | 22 | .566 | 50.4 | 9 | 15/16 | 31 | 55,408 |
| Full season | 84 | 42/42 | +0.43 | 11 | .559 | 49.9 | 12 | 16/20 | 36 | 64,444 |
| Week 4 | 3 | 0/3 | +0.09 | 9 | .513 | 48.2 | 0 | 0/1 | 0 | 3,916 |
Rank: 1 = easiest of 32. Edge: standings points against an average slate of the same length.
Carolina Hurricanes team page · week 4 (Oct 19-25) for every team
Game-by-game calendar
Coloured by opponent strength (points % rank, blended with last season). The percentage is how often an average team wins that game at that venue. Played games are faded with the result.
- Top 6
- 7th–13th
- 14th–19th
- 20th–26th
- Bottom 6
September 2026 · 1 game
- Tue, Sep 29vs FLA 54%OTL 0-1 · off-night
October 2026 · 14 games
- Fri, Oct 2vs WSH 53%L 2-5 · off-night
- Sat, Oct 3@ PHI 50%W 3-2 · B2B
- Tue, Oct 6@ MTL 42%W 6-4 · off-night
- Thu, Oct 8vs VAN 70%W 7-2 · 1,162 km
- Sat, Oct 10@ CHI 57%W 5-2 · 1,027 km
- Sun, Oct 11@ PHI 50%W 4-1 · B2B · off-night · 1,073 km
- Tue, Oct 13vs WSH 53%W 4-2
- Sat, Oct 17@ WPG 50%W 3-2 · 2,159 km
- Sun, Oct 18@ CGY 56%L 2-3 · B2B · off-night · 1,201 km
- Tue, Oct 20@ VAN 63%W 6-3
- Thu, Oct 22@ EDM 41%
- Sat, Oct 24@ STL 49%2,425 km
- Tue, Oct 27vs BOS 47%1,063 km
- Thu, Oct 29vs CBJ 57%
November 2026 · 12 games
- Sun, Nov 1vs WPG 57%off-night
- Tue, Nov 3@ NSH 48%
- Thu, Nov 5@ NYI 46%1,243 km
- Sat, Nov 7vs CHI 64%
- Thu, Nov 12@ SEA 49%3,795 km
- Sat, Nov 14vs SEA 56%3,795 km
- Thu, Nov 19vs MTL 49%
- Sat, Nov 21vs EDM 48%
- Sun, Nov 22@ NYR 48%B2B · off-night
- Wed, Nov 25@ TBL 39%1,620 km
- Sat, Nov 28vs OTT 49%
- Mon, Nov 30@ NYR 48%off-night
December 2026 · 13 games
- Thu, Dec 3vs CBJ 57%
- Sat, Dec 5vs TOR 58%
- Tue, Dec 8vs NYR 55%
- Fri, Dec 11vs NYI 53%off-night
- Sun, Dec 13vs BOS 47%off-night
- Tue, Dec 15@ CBJ 50%
- Thu, Dec 17@ UTA 44%off-night · 2,438 km
- Fri, Dec 18@ COL 38%B2B · off-night
- Mon, Dec 21@ VGK 41%off-night
- Sat, Dec 26vs PIT 56%3,262 km
- Mon, Dec 28vs TBL 46%off-night
- Tue, Dec 29@ PIT 49%B2B
- Thu, Dec 31@ DET 48%off-night
January 2027 · 14 games
- Sat, Jan 2vs NSH 55%
- Tue, Jan 5vs STL 56%off-night
- Thu, Jan 7vs PIT 56%
- Sat, Jan 9@ BUF 41%
- Tue, Jan 12@ BOS 40%
- Thu, Jan 14@ WSH 46%
- Fri, Jan 15vs PHI 57%B2B · off-night
- Sun, Jan 17vs VGK 48%off-night
- Thu, Jan 21@ FLA 47%1,083 km
- Sat, Jan 23vs ANA 56%1,083 km
- Mon, Jan 25@ OTT 42%off-night · 1,082 km
- Tue, Jan 26@ MTL 42%B2B
- Thu, Jan 28vs NYI 53%1,162 km
- Sat, Jan 30vs LAK 58%
February 2027 · 10 games
- Tue, Feb 9vs COL 45%off-night
- Thu, Feb 11vs MIN 47%off-night
- Sat, Feb 13vs BUF 48%
- Tue, Feb 16@ TOR 51%off-night
- Thu, Feb 18@ BUF 41%
- Fri, Feb 19vs DET 55%B2B · off-night
- Sun, Feb 21vs NYR 55%off-night
- Tue, Feb 23@ NJD 48%off-night
- Thu, Feb 25vs SJS 56%off-night
- Sat, Feb 27vs TBL 46%
March 2027 · 15 games
- Mon, Mar 1@ CBJ 50%off-night
- Wed, Mar 3@ WSH 46%off-night
- Fri, Mar 5vs TOR 58%off-night
- Sun, Mar 7vs UTA 51%off-night
- Tue, Mar 9@ MIN 40%1,582 km
- Fri, Mar 12vs CGY 63%off-night · 1,582 km
- Sat, Mar 13vs NJD 55%B2B
- Tue, Mar 16@ ANA 49%off-night · 3,558 km
- Thu, Mar 18@ LAK 51%
- Sat, Mar 20@ SJS 49%
- Tue, Mar 23@ DAL 39%2,331 km
- Thu, Mar 25vs DAL 46%1,692 km
- Sat, Mar 27@ PIT 49%
- Mon, Mar 29@ NJD 48%off-night
- Tue, Mar 30@ NYI 46%B2B
April 2027 · 5 games
- Fri, Apr 2@ DET 48%off-night
- Sat, Apr 3vs NJD 55%B2B
- Mon, Apr 5vs PHI 57%off-night
- Wed, Apr 7vs OTT 49%off-night
- Sat, Apr 10@ FLA 47%1,083 km
How opponents see Carolina Hurricanes
The rating other teams' schedules use for Carolina Hurricanes after 11 games (1st of 32 by blended points %). Prior: last season pulled 40% toward the league average.
| Stat | This season | Prior | Weight | Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points % | .773 | .638 | 22% | .667 |
| 5v5 xGF% | 59.7 | 53.4 | 36% | 55.6 |
| Goals for / GP | 3.82 | 3.36 | 27% | 3.48 |
| Goals against / GP | 2.45 | 2.96 | 27% | 2.82 |
| Shots against / GP | 22.4 | 25.5 | 52% | 23.8 |
| Pts allowed to C / GP | 2.45 | 2.97 | 21% | 2.86 |
| Pts allowed to W / GP | 2.91 | 3.16 | 21% | 3.10 |
| Pts allowed to D / GP | 1.09 | 1.87 | 21% | 1.70 |
How much does schedule matter?
Not much over a season, more over a week. With perfect hindsight about every opponent, a normal 82-game NHL schedule moved a team by at most about 2.0 standings points from an average one (2018-19 to 2025-26; the 2020-21 divisional season was the exception at a standard deviation of 1.9).
Forecasting test: we trained on 2018-19 to 2022-23 and tested on 2023-24 to 2025-26 (96 team-seasons). At game 41, adding the remaining schedule to a team's own blended rating left the error of its rest-of-season points % unchanged (0.0810 without, 0.0810 with). A one-standard-deviation tougher remaining schedule is worth about 0.7 standings points over 41 games. That is noise next to a team's own quality, so we do not treat season SOS as a betting or futures edge.
Single games are different: a team facing an opponent one standard deviation weaker in goals against scores about 0.23 more goals that night (holdout 2023-24 to 2025-26, 7,872 team-games). Game lines already price the opponent, so this helps fantasy lineups, not bets.
How strength of schedule is measured
For every game we take the opponent's rating and ask how many standings points an average NHL team would expect against it, at that venue. Adding those up over a window and comparing with an average slate of the same length gives the schedule edge in standings points: positive means easier. The opponent rating is points %, blended with last season early in the year. Opponent xGF%, goals and shots per game are shown beside it.
Opponent ratings this early carry a lot of last season: on Oct 21 the typical team has played 11 games, so its rating is 22% this season and the rest last season. Over a full season even perfect knowledge of every opponent moves a team only about ±2 standings points.
For fantasy, short windows matter most: the next 10 days and the fantasy week, where off-nights, back-to-backs and weak opponents stack up. For standings or futures, treat the season numbers as a tiebreaker, not a forecast.
Metropolitan Division schedules
Frequently asked questions
Does Carolina Hurricanes have an easy schedule in 2026-27?
Carolina Hurricanes faces the 22nd-easiest remaining schedule in the NHL: −0.44 standings points against an average slate over 73 games (opponents' points % .566). Over the next 10 days: 4 games, the 24th-easiest slate (−0.11), 0 on off-nights and 0 back-to-backs.
How many back-to-backs does Carolina Hurricanes have left?
9 of its remaining 73 games are the second night of a back-to-back, with 55,408 km of travel still to come.