There are 21 days left until the NHL’s opening night on October 8. Daily NHL picks will resume once the season begins, but in the lead up to the big day, I’ll be sharing some futures bets for every team in the league. Check out yesterday’s article where we analyzed the futures bets for Matvei Michkov and the Philadelphia Flyers.

Let’s look at two future bets for the Minnesota Wild in 2024-25.

Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook

UNDER 93.5 points in the regular season

I don’t understand why the bookies are predicting the Wild will score six more points in the 2024-25 season than they did last season. The Wild had a 39-34-9 record, which, one could argue, would have resulted in more points if they had found a way to win more of their overtime games. However, that’s not enough of a theory for me to believe in them this season.

The Wild have been one of the most inactive teams in the offseason. They return mostly with the same roster, which doesn’t make much sense when you look at last year’s team. There’s always an argument to bring it back when a team has an injury-filled season or has had bad luck. The Wild didn’t have that in 2023-24, with the core of their roster playing over 70 games and playing close to their potential.

Kirill Kaprizov scored nearly 50 goals and Joel Eriksson Ek scored 30 goals. Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury struggled and I would probably rate the Wild’s chances better if Jesper Wallstedt was added to the big roster. The problem is that the Wild signed Fleury for another year, which leaves Wallstedt with no chance of making the NHL.

The rest of the Central Division should be better this season, too. The Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche will continue to battle for the top three spots. The Nashville Predators have improved significantly, while the St. Louis Blues, Utah Hockey Club and Chicago Blackhawks could all be better with another year of experience. The Wild are getting way too much respect from the bookies, and this might be my favorite bet of the offseason.

Wild makes it to the playoffs – NO

This bet doesn’t need much explanation. I have low odds on the Wild in 2024-25 and DraftKings gives us +105 odds that they won’t make the playoffs. The Western Conference has gotten worse in the Pacific Division, but at least three teams from that roster need to make the playoffs and they will benefit from a weaker schedule. The Central Division will be a gauntlet for all teams and I’m not even sure the Wild are a top-5 team there to secure a wildcard when the Pacific only has three playoff teams.

The game odds are updated regularly and are subject to change.