The Vancouver Canucks’ 2024-25 season schedule has been ranked as the 12th-easiest in the NHL by Daily Faceoff. While no ranking system can perfectly predict the impact of a team’s schedule on their success, several key factors — including travel, back-to-back games, and opponents playing in back-to-back situations — seem to have played a major role in determining the Canucks’ standing.
This season, Vancouver will travel a total of 42,500 miles, placing them 19th in the league for distance travelled. They will also face a relatively heavy load of back-to-back (BTB) games, with 10 such sets on their schedule, tied for fourth-most in the NHL. However, the Canucks will have some advantage as well, facing opponents playing on the second night of a BTB game 13 times, which ties them for 12th in that category.
Home and road breakdowns
The Canucks will enjoy two six-game homestands, the longest stretches of consecutive home games on their schedule. These extended home stretches will occur from Nov. 9th to Nov. 19th and again from Dec. 6th to Dec. 16th. In total, Vancouver’s schedule is made up of various homestand lengths:
- Three one-game homestands
- Four two-game homestands
- Six three-game homestands
- One four-game homestand
- Two six-game homestands
On the road, the Canucks will also embark on two six-game road trips, from Nov. 23rd to Dec. 3rd and from Mar. 20th to Mar. 30th. Their road schedule consists of:
- Three one-game trips
- Three two-game trips
- Two three-game trips
- One four-game trip
- Two five-game trips
- Two six-game trips
Vancouver is one of only two teams, along with the Los Angeles Kings, to have four road trips of five or more games.
Scheduling quirks
The Canucks will play every day of the week, with the majority of their games taking place on Saturdays (19 games) and Tuesdays (15 games). Here’s how the full breakdown looks:
- Sunday: 9 games
- Monday: 7 games
- Tuesday: 15 games
- Wednesday: 12 games
- Thursday: 12 games
- Friday: 8 games
- Saturday: 19 games
This spread across the week should give the team a balanced approach to rest and preparation, though the high number of back-to-back games may present challenges in managing fatigue throughout the season.
What this means
The Canucks’ relatively easy schedule, ranked 12th in the league, presents a solid opportunity for the team to perform well in the 2024-25 season. With a manageable balance between homestands and road trips, fewer challenging back-to-backs, and an absence of long, gruelling road trips early on, Vancouver can position itself for a strong playoff push. How the team navigates the most difficult parts of the schedule, especially the long road trip in March, will likely determine their success.
