Updated Red Wings, Eastern Conference Playoff Odds

With just over 20 games remaining on most NHL schedules, the pretenders are fading, and the teams genuinely worthy of a ticket to Lord Stanley’s dance are rising, including the Detroit Red Wings.

Even if coach Todd McLellan had to call out captain Dylan Larkin.

The Red Wings are currently in the top wild-card spot, but according to MoneyPuck, they have just 42.6% of making the playoffs. It would seem an inverted twist amongst the NHL best bets to have a team in a playoff spot as a non-favorite to be in the postseason.

The Red Wings have a four-point lead over the still-inconsistent New York Rangers, dinged-up Ottawa Senators, and sinking Boston Bruins. New York and Ottawa have a game in hand, but Boston has played one more game.

Remarkably, New York has a 48% chance of making the postseason, while Ottawa is at 49.4%. Bettors might find good value in laying clams on a likely outcome. Despite the lead, the Red Wings are +196 to hold their ground and make the postseason.

The second wild card team, the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets, has just a 28.2% chance of making the playoffs and is on the board at +255 to hold their playoff spot.

So, to recap, if you’re following the numbers, both Eastern Conference wild card teams are favorites to squander their leads. Perhaps McLellan will get his wish, and Alex DeBrincat will rub off on the rest of his team.

After eight years of playoff misses, the Red Wings won’t get a better chance. Under their new coach, who took over for Derek LaLonde, the Red Wings are 17-5-2 and have left other teams, such as the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders, in the dust. It has been one of the fastest starts under a new coach in Red Wings history.

Red Wings fans know full well what Pittsburgh is about to go through, and now the lonely springs watching others chase the Cup could well be over.

Beginning Saturday, four of the next five games are against playoff teams or those they are battling for the playoff spots. Saturday, they’ll head to Columbus, followed by hosting the Carolina Hurricanes, who may or may not have Mikko Rantanen still on the roster ahead of the NHL trade deadline. After a pallet cleanser against Utah, Eastern Conference top dog Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators.

Digging deeper into the statistical probabilities, the Red Wings have a 14% chance to advance to Round Two of the Stanley Cup playoffs, a 5.1% of the Eastern Conference, a 2% to advance to the Stanley Cup Final, and .8% to win it all.