Fantasy: Schedule guide for head-to-head playoffs

NHL.com Fantasy Hockey Staff

The fantasy playoffs in standard leagues begin the week of March 13 and it's essential to know how the NHL schedule will impact your roster.
Games in hand are extremely important during each round of the fantasy playoffs, but whether a player's remaining games will be played at home and/or against non-contending teams can go a long way in determining a championship run. When mulling add/drop decisions, a good tiebreaker is to see if either player's team has more games remaining, a favorable or difficult schedule, or a home- or road-heavy slate.

Past and recent production, lineup placement, power-play usage, projected goalie starts, and your position of need remain the most important factors pertaining to fantasy value, and plenty of players are equipped to produce in road situations or against a strong opponent. That said, these schedule splits can provide additional pros and cons to adding or dropping a player.

NOTE: The splits have been updated after games played Thursday, March 9. ... Non-contenders are the bottom four teams in each conference as of Thursday: Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks in Western Conference; Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils in Eastern Conference.
Teams in bold have advantages in terms of games remaining, strength of schedule and home splits.

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Anaheim Ducks (15 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 9H/6R)
*Arizona Coyotes (16 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 8H/8R)
Boston Bruins (15 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 9H/6R)
*Buffalo Sabres (15 games left, 1 vs. non-contenders - 7H/8R)
Calgary Flames (15 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 8H/7R)
*Carolina Hurricanes (18 games left, 4 vs. non-contenders - 10H/8R)
Chicago Blackhawks (16 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 6H/10R)
*Colorado Avalanche (16 games left, 4 vs. non-contenders - 8H/8R)
Columbus Blue Jackets (17 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 7H/10R)
*Dallas Stars (15 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 5H/10R)
*Detroit Red Wings (17 games left, 7 vs. non-contenders - 10H/7R)
Edmonton Oilers (16 games left, 6 vs. non-contenders - 11H/5R)
Florida Panthers (17 games left, 4 vs. non-contenders - 8H/9R)
Los Angeles Kings (16 games left, 4 vs. non-contenders - 10H/6R)
Minnesota Wild (17 games left, 7 vs. non-contenders - 8H/9R)
Montreal Canadiens (14 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 8H/6R)
Nashville Predators (15 games left, 3 vs. non-contenders - 7H/8R)
*New Jersey Devils (15 games left, 4 vs. non-contenders - 9H/6R)
New York Islanders (16 games left, 6 vs. non-contenders - 7H/9R)
New York Rangers (14 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 6H/8R)
Philadelphia Flyers (16 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 8H/8R)
Pittsburgh Penguins (17 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 7H/10R)
Ottawa Senators (16 games left, 3 vs. non-contenders - 6H/10R)
San Jose Sharks (16 games left, 6 vs. non-contenders - 9H/7R)
St. Louis Blues (17 games left, 8 vs. non-contenders - 8H/9R)
Tampa Bay Lightning (16 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 9H/7R)
Toronto Maple Leafs (16 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 8H/8R)
*Vancouver Canucks (15 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 7H/8R)
Washington Capitals (16 games left, 3 vs. non-contenders - 7H/9R)
Winnipeg Jets (14 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 7H/7R)
* Non-contending team

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FANTASY PLAYOFF SCHEDULE BY WEEK

Most games in Week 21 (First round: March 13-19): Carolina (five)

Most games in Week 22 (Quarterfinals: March 20-26): 12 teams with four

Most games in Week 23 (Semifinals: March 27-April 2): Carolina, Nashville (five)

Most games in Week 24 (Championship: April 3-9): Toronto, Ottawa (five)