Canadiens Playoff Odds Impacted By NHL Strength Of Schedule

There are 34 games left in the Montreal Canadiens schedule, and as it stands, they’re in the race to earn one of the Wild Card spots in the East.

They’re also not that far off from finishing among the bottom-10 teams in the league, but such is life in the forced parity that comes hand-in-hand with a salary-cap world.

If we all agree the glass is half full, the question becomes whether they really have a legitimate chance to pass the teams that are currently above them in the standings, which would lead to them qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

There are a lot of factors to consider, including player health, recent trends, and, of course, the strength of schedule each team will face down the stretch of the 2024-25 season.

We will focus on the latter today.

Montreal Canadiens Strength Of Schedule (SOS)

The teams the Canadiens will have to contend with are as follows: The Tampa Bay Lightning, the Boston Bruins, the Columbus Blue Jackets, the New York Rangers, and the Ottawa Senators. There’s a chance a team below the Canadiens in the standings, such as the Philadelphia Flyers or the Detroit Red Wings, could be in the mix, so we’ll include them for good measure.

The good news is that unlike previous years, the Canadiens will not face a murderer’s row of opponents to close out the season.  In fact, the Canadiens have one of the easiest strengths of schedules in the league at the moment, ranking 26 out of 32 teams. The only team in the mix for a Wild Card spot that has an easier strength of schedule is the Lightning, who own the 30th most difficult remaining SOS.

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean the Canadiens will cruise to the playoffs, but it does give them an edge compared to most of their counterparts.

And when it comes to professional sports, every advantage plays its part.

On the flip side, both the Bruins and Senators, two teams that are likely to stand in the way of the Habs qualifying for the playoffs, have a reasonably easy schedule to close out the year as well.

In other words, there’s very little margin for error at this point in the season, a fact reflected by the team’s current playoff odds, which have been improving, but are yet to reach the point where Canadiens fans should plan for springtime hockey.

All Montreal Canadiens strength of schedule information via Tankathon.