The Ottawa Senators didn’t get much help from the NHL’s new schedule when it comes to rest.
With the league’s 2025-26 slate released Thursday, one of the first things teams can zero in on is how often they’ll be forced into back-to-backs. Ottawa’s number isn’t especially friendly.
According to HockeyViz.com, the Senators will play 14 back-to-back sets, and in 11 of those games they’ll be up against a team that has already had at least one full day off. Only Boston (13), Buffalo (12) and Pittsburgh (12) will deal with that kind of disadvantage more often.
The flip side isn’t much kinder either. When Ottawa is the team with the rest edge, it only gets to face a tired opponent five times. That’s a low total across the league - only Toronto (2) and Winnipeg (3) are scheduled for that situation less often.
Montreal, though, landed in a far better spot. The Canadiens have the second-fewest games, with only five, when they’ll be less rested than the team across the ice. At the same time, they’re set to have the most games - 14 - where they hold the rest advantage.
That puts the Canadiens in a much stronger position than the rest of the Atlantic Division, and Boston, Buffalo, Florida and Toronto also ended up with tough rest profiles.
There is still some context to keep in mind. The league does take team requests into account, even if those requests are not made public. So a club that pushes for a certain kind of home-heavy or time-specific schedule may have to give somewhere else.
For Ottawa, that matters because the Senators have 15 home games on Thursday nights next season, which is more than a third of their schedule at the CTC.
The Ottawa Charge add another layer to the building’s calendar. After announcing that the CTC will be their new home next season, they’ll take up 15 of those dates as well, plus playoffs.
Even with the schedule quirks, Ottawa did handle back-to-backs well last season. In 2025-26, the Senators went 9-3-2 in the second game of back-to-back sets.
HockeyViz.com also labels “sludge games” as matchups where neither team is rested, and Ottawa only has three of those on the schedule.
There’s also a healthier stretch built in for the Senators: nine games where both teams will have at least two days off. Eight of those come in the second half of the season.
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