NHL Teams That Are Facing Brutal Upcoming Schedules

September's World Cup of Hockey has left an impression on the NHL schedule that will be felt right through 2016-17.

The season started a week later than usual but will still end by the second week in April. That means every team will need to squeeze its 82 games into seven less days—not a huge change, but one that effectively snatches one practice or off day from every team each month. 

The league schedule also has another new wrinkle this year—a "bye week." Nearly every team will receive a stretch of five days off without games or practices sometime during January or February, per the Associated Press (via USA Today).

The bye week was negotiated by the NHL Players' Association as compensation for agreeing to change the All-Star Game to a more intense three-on-three tournament format starting last season.

The bye week will be a great opportunity for players to recharge their batteries heading into the playoff stretch run, but this will mean less days off between games for every team around the league.

Considering that the standings at Thanksgiving are usually a pretty good indicator of April's final playoff participants, getting off to a good start is crucial in the NHL.

The lightest early-season schedule belongs to the Columbus Blue Jackets. They play just 18 games before U.S. Thanksgiving, 11 of which will happen at home. The Blue Jackets' games are nicely spaced out, with the most demanding stretch being a four-game Western road trip that extends over a relatively luxurious seven nights.

By contrast, the teams on this list have been thrust into the fire immediately. Each team's schedule was rated by overall workload, number of sets of back-to-back games, travel challenges and quality of opponents.

Here's a look at the teams with the longest odds to overcome, schedule-wise, if they want one of those good starts for themselves.

6. Vancouver Canucks

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The Season So Far: 3 GP, 3-0-0, 6 pts, first in Pacific Division

What's Coming Up: By Thanksgiving, the Vancouver Canucks will have played 20 games, nine of which will be on the road. Their overall workload isn't excessive, but their schedule is made tougher by five sets of back-to-back games and a long six-game road trip through the Eastern Conference that takes place over a nine-day stretch in early November.

With days off at a premium this season, the Canucks lost three rest days that they could have used later in the schedule as they waited for their season to begin. Vancouver didn't play its first game until October 15, three days after the first games of the 2016-17 campaign.

The Prognosis: So far, it looks like the Canucks were able to use that extra early-season practice time to their advantage. They've employed strong systems, tight defending and plenty of determination to defy the skeptics with a strong start to the year.

If the team stays healthy and doesn't wear down from the extra energy required to keep coming from behind to win games, their success could buoy them through the busy first five weeks of their schedule.

5. St. Louis Blues

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The Season So Far: 4 GP, 3-0-1, 7 pts, first in Central Division

What's Coming Up: By Thanksgiving, the St. Louis Blues will have played 21 games, tied for second-most in the Western Conference with the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings. 

The Blues' schedule is one of the tougher ones because they play 11 of those first 21 games on the road and because they'll suit up for a total of four sets of back-to-back games. 

The Prognosis: Good team; tough schedule. The first set of back-to-backs went well, when St. Louis opened the season with wins over the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild. They'll hit up the Blackhawks again, followed by the Nashville Predators, in two tough Central Division matchups on November 9 and 10. Another tough back-to-back comes on the road against Boston and Washington right before Thanksgiving.

The Blues look like a formidable team in the early going. If they can stay healthy and continue to get strong goaltending from both Jake Allen and Carter Hutton, they should be able to weather the storm and look toward easier workloads ahead.

4. Chicago Blackhawks

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The Season So Far: 4 GP, 2-2-0, 4 pts, fifth in Central Division

What's Coming Up: By Thanksgiving, the Chicago Blackhawks will have played 21 games, one of the heavier workloads in the league. Chicago has four sets of back-to-back games to contend with. They play a reasonable 10 road games leading up to Thanksgiving, but the last five come as part of the team's annual "Circus Trip."

Starting November 15, the Hawks hit the road for seven games through Western Canada and California while they vacate the United Center for two weeks while the circus comes to town.

The Prognosis: The Blackhawks' season is off to a spotty start, and the tough schedule won't help matters any.

As well as the usual challenges of the Circus Trip, Chicago also has a tough week ahead in early November. That starts with back-to-back games against the Dallas Stars, then features a visit to their division foes in St. Louis before finishing off with home games against two of the Eastern Conference's best teams—the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens.

After a solid 7-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on October 18, six of the Blackhawks' next seven games come against non-playoff teams. They'll need to pull as many points as possible from that stretch if they hope to separate themselves from the pack in the competitive Central.

3. Philadelphia Flyers

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The Season So Far: 3 GP, 1-1-1, 3 pts, fifth in Metropolitan Division

What's Coming Up: By Thanksgiving, the Philadelphia Flyers will have played 21 games, tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers for the heaviest workload in the Eastern Conference. 

The Flyers play a reasonable 10 games on the road, but they lead the league with six sets of back-to-back games before Thanksgiving, all of which involve travel.

The second games of those back-to-backs feature some tough opponents. They'll meet the non-playoff Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes in that situation before the end of this month, but they will be the tired team when they face the New York Islanders, Minnesota Wild and Tampa Bay Lightning in the second half of their back-to-backs in November.

The Prognosis: Travel and schedule issues are usually the bane of the Western Conference, but the Flyers are burdened more than any of their Eastern Conference cohorts in the early stages of 2016-17.

Philadelphia's goalie tandem of Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth should allow the team to feel comfortable using different starters on consecutive nights in back-to-back situations. However, the team is ranked 28th in the league in goals-against in the early going, after giving up an average of 4.33 goals in its first three games. 

Without better performances in and around the crease, the Flyers could once again find themselves well back of a wild-card spot by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.

2. Winnipeg Jets

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The Season So Far: 4 GP, 2-2-0, 4 pts, sixth in Central Division

What's Coming Up: By Thanksgiving, the Winnipeg Jets will have played 22 games on the road—sharing the heaviest workload in the NHL with the Calgary Flames. Like the Flames, 12 of those 22 games will be on the road, but they'll have a fairly reasonable three sets of back-to-back contests.

Winnipeg's opponents are tough, though. By Thanksgiving, they'll have played 12 of their 22 games against teams that made the playoffs last season, including three against the Dallas Stars and two against the Washington Capitals.

The Jets' longest early road trip is a five-game affair that stretches over the Thanksgiving holiday, but on November 8 they have one home game against Dallas sandwiched between three road games on one side and two on the other, creating a situation that's similar to a six-game road trip.

The Prognosis: The Jets are currently enjoying three days off during a week at home, but they will be busy with the pre-game hoopla before the October 23 Heritage Classic game against the Edmonton Oilers. Once they get back to work on Sunday, they won't have more than a single day off between games for the next four weeks.

The heavy schedule, with plenty of travel and lots of off-ice obligations, will be tough for the Jets to overcome. Expect them to remain outside the playoff picture at Thanksgiving.

1. Calgary Flames

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The Season So Far: 4 GP, 1-2-1, 3 pts, fourth in Pacific Division

What's Coming Up: By Thanksgiving, the Calgary Flames will have played a league-leading 22 games, tied with the Winnipeg Jets. Like Winnipeg, Calgary will play 12 times on the road, but they'll also play five sets of back-to-back games, where the Jets "only" play three.

The Flames will play the Chicago Blackhawks three times and the St. Louis Blues twice before Thanksgiving, and they will hit the road for a four-game trip at the beginning of November. Calgary's first Eastern Conference swing begins Nov. 20—six games during a span of nine nights.

The Prognosis: A tough early schedule took a toll on the Flames, who collected just one point during a season-opening stretch of three games in four nights. After a couple of days off, Calgary looked better in a 4-3 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres.

The Flames players will need to find ways to bring their A-games when they're tired as well as when they're rested, or they'll be fast-tracking back to the depths of the Pacific Division again this season.

All stats and standings courtesy of NHL.com.