Oddsmakers Betting Red Wings Miss the Playoffs

The middle of the Eastern Conference is going to be packed tighter than the lines to get into Little Casesar’s Arena when the Detroit Red Wings open their 2024-25 NHL season against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 10.

There are far more playoff contenders than in any of the recent seasons. Some, like the Red Wings, are on their way up, and others, like Pittsburgh, are on their way down. The resulting logjam means every game, even those mid-week snoozers in October, could mean the difference between playing hockey into May or wearing shorts on the golf course.

For what it’s worth, even Pittsburgh is still fighting to be relevant, trading for Michigan product Rutger McGroarty last week.

So, despite re-upping Patrik Kane and adding RW Vladimir Tarasenko and goalie Cam Talbot, it’s a little surprising that FanDuel Sportsbook still shows the Red Wings’ odds greater to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs than to make them. 

If you’re bullish on the Red Wings and the betting type, they are +122 to make the playoffs and -156 to miss. If the oddsmakers are correct, one wonders how comfortable executive vice president/GM Steve Yzerman’s seat will be. Fans may begin to openly sour on the “Yzerplan” beyond the soft consternation over the slow results.

As you may imagine, the Red Wings are not on the list of 10 Stanley Cup betting favorites, either.

Of course, things could always be worse. The poor, long-suffering fans of the Buffalo Sabres haven’t seen a playoff berth since Barack Obama was a first-term president (2011). The Sabres are even worse betting favs to make the playoffs, despite getting close in each of the last two seasons. The Red Wings and Ottawa Senators are working on similar playoff droughts, as Ottawa last spit-shined their shoes to go dancing with Lord Stanley in 2017. According to FanDuel, Ottawa is a +100 to miss the playoffs and -128 to make them.

Perhaps adding goaltender Linus Ullmark improved Ottawa’s chances, but not enough to move the needle very far.

Somewhat amusingly, Pittsburgh is also an outsider on the playoff betting, currently going off at +124 to make the postseason and -154 to miss. While McGroarty might be a nice add, the furious run at the end of last season hasn’t been enough for observers to overlook their acquisitions of Kevin Hayes and Anthony Beauvillier as key contributors this season.

If you’re into skewed odds that give a much better payout than they should, the Washington Capitals have added goalie Logan Thompson, defenseman Jakob Chychrun, and Andrew Mangiapane (we’re committing the potentially disastrous trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois). Yet they’re a whopping +182 to make the playoffs.

If there’s a set of odds to pounce upon regardless of your loyalties, the Capitals’ chances against those odds are clearly a mismatch.

After a long offseason, we’re finally ready to get this show on the road. In just a few weeks, the Red Wings prospects tournament in Traverse City begins, albeit with just two teams (Dallas is the other). Soon afterward, we’ll be treated to training camp and the opening faceoff of the 2024-25 NHL season.

It can’t come soon enough.