The Leafs will be getting one of the more favourable travel schedules next season as their 37,700 miles (or roughly 60,672.3 km) will be the 10th lightest in the NHL according to TJStats.
The Dallas Stars have the furthest travel distance in the league this upcoming season 😳✈️
(via @TJStats) pic.twitter.com/nLmauNO4Yv
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) July 21, 2024
It comes as no surprise that a team in the Eastern Conference has a reasonable travel schedule since that has typically been the precedent for several years now. There are certainly some outliers in this practice with the Panthers having the second-heaviest travel schedule while teams close to Toronto in the Penguins and Senators having significantly lighter travel, but it is generally about as balanced as it can be based on the logistical challenges at play.
It’s a good thing the Leafs have a more relaxed travel schedule because they are tied with the Hurricanes for the most back-to-backs in the league next season at 16, with the first set being right at the start of the campaign. While having that many is far from ideal, a lot of these back-to-backs see the Leafs not travelling too far with the furthest one being the last one where they play the Canadiens on April 12th and then fly down to Carolina for a game on April 13th.
For the most part, the placement of away games are reasonably spaced out for the Leafs with one exception. There is a brutal stretch in early March of three games in four nights that starts with a back-to-back away at Pittsburgh and home against the Sharks, then a day of travel, and ends with an away game against the Golden Knights. Besides this outlier, the rest of these situations are fair as can be with three games in four nights in terms of travel time.
Their busiest stretch on the road is in February where they have two instances of four-game road trips with the Four Nations Faceoff break being smack dab in the middle of it. By contrast, they play 24 home games compared to 16 road games between November and January for a difference of eight.
All of which is to say that while their travel schedule is not extremely light, it is reasonable enough given the circumstances. At least they don’t have to endure what the Stars will be facing this coming season.
