NHL Week 2 Schedule Planner: Four-Game Teams, Back-to-Backs and Returns

If you set a weekly lineup, favor busy skaters in close start decisions. Keep a flexible goalie option ready.

The week at a glance

Week 2, Oct 5–11: 47 games over 7 days. 4 teams play 4 or more games: CAR, OTT, PHI and PIT. 6 teams play 2 games or fewer: CBJ, CGY, EDM, FLA, LAK and NJD.

If your weekly lineup has a close call, lean toward an Ottawa skater and review your bench before locking it.

Four-game teams to lean on

Team	Games	Schedule	Opponents' avg. points
CAR	4	Tue at MTL, Thu vs VAN, Sat at CHI, Sun at PHI	2.3
OTT	4	Mon at BOS, Tue at DET, Thu vs PHI, Sat vs NSH	2
PHI	4	Mon at TBL, Thu at OTT, Sat at BOS, Sun vs CAR	2.8
PIT	4	Mon vs WPG, Wed at WSH, Fri at CBJ, Sat vs DAL	1.3

Key players on these teams, with their 2025-26 lines:

Player	Team	Pos	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PPP	Shots	Hits	Blocks
Drake Batherson	OTT	RW	79	33	37	70	29	164	122	22
Dylan Cozens	OTT	C	82	29	30	59	29	205	216	25
Jake Sanderson	OTT	D	67	14	41	55	22	147	30	130
Sebastian Aho	CAR	C	79	27	53	80	27	195	63	23
Nikolaj Ehlers	CAR	LW	82	26	45	71	29	206	21	24
Andrei Svechnikov	CAR	RW	79	31	39	70	29	203	148	16
Travis Konecny	PHI	RW	77	27	41	68	14	168	108	38
Trevor Zegras	PHI	C	81	26	41	67	23	167	46	27
Christian Dvorak	PHI	C	80	18	33	51	5	148	38	52
Sidney Crosby	PIT	C	68	29	45	74	23	159	60	30
Erik Karlsson	PIT	D	75	15	51	66	26	176	20	64
Bryan Rust	PIT	RW	72	29	36	65	24	180	35	71

If you need power play help at wing, lean toward Drake Batherson in a close weekly start decision.

Light weeks to plan around

Team	Games	Schedule	Opponents' avg. points
CBJ	2	Fri vs PIT, Sat at STL	3
CGY	2	Thu vs COL, Sat vs ANA	3
EDM	2	Wed at ANA, Sat at SJS	3
FLA	2	Tue at LAK, Sat vs MIN	2.5
LAK	2	Tue vs FLA, Sat at VGK	2.5
NJD	2	Tue vs UTA, Sat vs VAN	4

If an NJD skater is a fringe weekly start, compare your bench options before locking that slot.

Back-to-backs and goalies

9 teams play on consecutive nights this week.

Team	First night	Second night
OTT	Mon at BOS	Tue at DET
COL	Wed at WPG	Thu at CGY
ANA	Fri at WPG	Sat at CGY
CBJ	Fri vs PIT	Sat at STL
DET	Fri vs SEA	Sat at MTL
PIT	Fri at CBJ	Sat vs DAL
CAR	Sat at CHI	Sun at PHI
PHI	Sat at BOS	Sun vs CAR
VAN	Sat at NJD	Sun at NYR

On a back-to-back, the backup could start one of the two games: nobody knows who starts in goal on a given night until the team confirms it.

Goalies on those teams, with their 2025-26 lines:

Player	Team	Pos	Games	Wins	SV%
Linus Ullmark	OTT	G	49	28	.890
Brandon Bussi	CAR	G	39	31	.894
Dan Vladar	PHI	G	52	29	.906
Arturs Silovs	PIT	G	39	19	.888
Mackenzie Blackwood	COL	G	38	23	.903
Scott Wedgewood	COL	G	45	31	.921
Lukas Dostal	ANA	G	55	30	.888
Jet Greaves	CBJ	G	55	26	.908
John Gibson	DET	G	57	29	.902

If Linus Ullmark fills your weekly goalie slot, keep another eligible goalie ready and check his status near lineup lock.

Due back and injury changes

Players with a listed return date this week:

Player	Team	Status	Injury	Listed return
Cameron Hughes	DAL	IR	Upper body	Mon, Oct 5
Jaxon Fuder	DAL	IR	Undisclosed	Mon, Oct 5
Matthew Poitras	BOS	IR	Lower body	Mon, Oct 5
Tristan Bertucci	DAL	IR	Undisclosed	Mon, Oct 5
Alex Lyon	BUF	IR	Upper body	Tue, Oct 6
Andrew Mangiapane	CHI	Out	Lower body	Tue, Oct 6
Bowen Byram	CHI	Out	Personal	Tue, Oct 6
Carter Bear	DET	IR	Upper body	Tue, Oct 6
Connor Brown	NJD	Out	Lower body	Tue, Oct 6
Dylan Larkin	DET	IR	Upper body	Tue, Oct 6
Jakub Dvorak	LAK	IR	Upper body	Tue, Oct 6
Jan Jenik	LAK	IR	Undisclosed	Tue, Oct 6
Johnathan Kovacevic	NJD	IR	Right knee	Tue, Oct 6
Marco Kasper	DET	Out	Upper body	Tue, Oct 6
Oliver Kapanen	MTL	Out	Lower body	Tue, Oct 6
Otto Salin	LAK	IR	Undisclosed	Tue, Oct 6
Drew Helleson	ANA	IR	Lower body	Wed, Oct 7
Georgii Merkulov	COL	IR	Undisclosed	Wed, Oct 7
Logan O'Connor	COL	IR	Lower body	Wed, Oct 7
Harrison Scott	DAL	IR	Undisclosed	Thu, Oct 8
Jacob Bernard-Docker	DET	IR	Upper body	Fri, Oct 9
Alexander Nikishin	CAR	Out	Contract dispute	Sat, Oct 10
James Stefan	EDM	IR	Undisclosed	Sat, Oct 10
Jason Dickinson	EDM	IR	Foot	Sat, Oct 10
Jonathan Huberdeau	CGY	IR	Hip, surgery	Sat, Oct 10
Lucas Condotta	MTL	IR	Undisclosed	Sat, Oct 10
Luke Krys	DAL	IR	Undisclosed	Sat, Oct 10
MacKenzie Entwistle	FLA	IR	Undisclosed	Sat, Oct 10
Topias Leinonen	BUF	IR	Lower body	Sat, Oct 10
Trent Miner	COL	IR	Undisclosed	Sat, Oct 10

Also on the injury report for teams with 4 or more games:

Player	Team	Status	Injury	Listed return
Seth Jarvis	CAR	IR	Shoulder, surgery	Sat, Oct 24
Artem Zub	OTT	IR	Knee	Sat, Oct 10
Blake Montgomery	OTT	IR	Undisclosed	Thu, Oct 8
Kurtis MacDermid	OTT	IR	Upper body	Sat, Oct 31
Andre Burakovsky	OTT	Out	Upper body	Mon, Oct 5
Denver Barkey	PHI	IR	Lower body	Tue, Oct 13
Helge Grans	PHI	IR	Lower body	Mon, Oct 5
Nikita Grebenkin	PHI	Out	Undisclosed	Mon, Oct 5
Ben Kindel	PIT	IR	Lower body	Wed, Oct 7
Bryan Rust	PIT	IR	Upper body	Mon, Oct 5
Justin Brazeau	PIT	IR	Lower body	Wed, Oct 7
Ryan Graves	PIT	IR	Knee	Sat, Oct 24

Injury report changes since Fri, Oct 2 (report of Sat, Oct 3):

Player	Team	From	To
A.J. Greer	ANA	DTD	Off the report
Henry Mews	CGY	DTD	Off the report
Bowen Byram	CHI	Not listed	Out
Andreas Englund	DET	IR	Off the report
Dylan Larkin	DET	Out	IR
Marco Kasper	DET	Not listed	Out
Oliver Kapanen	MTL	DTD	Out
Jake Sanderson	OTT	DTD	Off the report
Jorian Donovan	OTT	DTD	Off the report
Nikita Grebenkin	PHI	DTD	Out
Blake Lizotte	PIT	DTD	Off the report
Jacob Melanson	SEA	Not listed	IR
Mackie Samoskevich	SEA	IR	Off the report
Alexey Toropchenko	STL	Not listed	Out
Raphael Lavoie	VGK	DTD	Out
Connor Hellebuyck	WPG	Suspended	IR

If Bryan Rust occupies your weekly wing slot, check his status near lineup lock and keep an eligible replacement ready.

Looking ahead

Next week, Oct 12–18: 6 teams have 4 or more games: BUF, FLA, MIN, NJD, OTT and VGK.

If you plan weekly starts ahead, keep Ottawa skaters in mind for close lineup calls next week.