The 2024/25 NHL travel schedule has been analyzed, and unsurprisingly, Gary Bettman’s overt favouritsm is showing once again.

Four of the past five Stanley Cup Champions have come from states with no income tax, and that’s providing a significant advantage in free agency and the trade market in the NHL.

That doesn’t appear to be the only one however, as a recent report showed the insane discrepancy and blatant favouritsm for the Eastern Conference.

According to the data, the Pittsburgh Penguins travel the least in 2024/25 with just 31,700 miles, with the Eastern Conference having the 10 teams with the least amount of travel in the league. On the flipside, the Dallas Stars travel the most with 56,700, being one of four teams that include Edmonton, Florida and Anaheim to cover over 50,000 miles next year.

There is a bit of reason behind this, as teams like Pittsburgh play in a division where all of their rivals are within a few hours of each other, where the Florida teams and Western Canadian teams all having to travel significantly up and down the continent to face their division rivals.

Ultimately, there’s no data to prove how much this effects teams and players, as two of the top four teams in travel played in the Stanley Cup Finals last year, but come playoff time, it’s hard to believe that this doesn’t have a major effect.