Devils vs. Red Wings odds, prediction: NHL picks, best bets

It feels like we have a pretty darn good idea of what to expect out of the New Jersey Devils this season.

Priced as one of the Stanley Cup favorites, the Devils have one of the best young cores in the NHL and added some quality supporting players to their roster in the offseason to turn them into potential juggernauts.

New Jersey is deserving of its status as one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody out there who is skeptical that they’re a safe bet to hit 100 points again in 2023-24.

As for the Detroit Red Wings, it’s a bit of a trickier equation.

While Detroit has an intriguing core led by Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat and Moritz Seider, it’s anybody’s guess how the rest of the roster performs.

For a team that is supposed to be building towards contention after missing the playoffs for seventh straight season, there are a lot of veterans expected to play big roles in MoTown over the next six months.

With one team looking like a sure thing and another looking like a question mark, it’s no surprise to see the Devils sitting as -258 favorites Thursday night. 

Devils vs. Red Wings prediction

It is really hard to find faults with the Devils, but the one part of their roster that can be called into question is their goaltending.

Vitek Vanecek was solid, if unspectacular for New Jersey in 2022-23, but he struggled in the postseason before being replaced by rookie Akira Schmid.

Perhaps Schmid ends up being the answer and Vanecek settles into a backup role, but goaltending is already hard to project and trying to handicap how well a rookie with 33 games (including playoffs) of NHL experience will perform is a fool’s errand. 

Over the course of an 82-game season the Devils will likely play well enough that average goaltending will keep them in contention for the division title, but it’s a different situation for the Red Wings. 

Detroit made a big commitment last offseason to Ville Husso, but the former St. Louis Blue struggled to an .896 save percentage and -13 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) in 56 games for the Wings.

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Detroit’s defense did Husso very few favors, but he’ll need to improve drastically if the Wings want to be playing meaningful games in March. 

One area that the Wings did improve during the offseason was their scoring depth.

By bringing in DeBrincat, Daniel Sprong, and JT Compher, Detroit strengthened an offense that finished 27th in 5-on-5 scoring in 2022-23.

While the Devils should be able to run circles around the Wings at times in this game, Detroit’s offensive improvement means it can contribute enough to the scoresheet to put this Over 6.5 well within reach.

The Bet: Over 6.5 (-115, FanDuel Sportsbook)