Let's play hockey: Season predictions, odds for Minnesota Wild North News
Oct 7, 2023; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson (32) acknowledges the crowd as he is announced as the First Star of the Game after earning a shutout against the Dallas Stars at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports
Perhaps it’s a positive Minnesota is overwhelmingly being slept on.
The Wild take the ice for the first time in the 2023-24 NHL regular season Thursday against reigning Eastern Conference champion Florida, and experts aren’t exactly jumping to tab the team representing the State of Hockey as a threat to win the Stanley Cup. They’re projecting Minnesota just to be alright.
That’s OK. Sometimes the best thing for an organization is bulletin board material – or a lack thereof.
The oversight is expected anyways. This rendition of the Wild is handicapped. They’re dealing with the dead cap burdens created by Ryan Suter and Zach Parise’s mega contracts, and the franchise mostly was quiet in the offseason, adding several two-way players in free agency and re-signing some of their own.
Still, there’s elite goalscoring talent in Minnesota and a chance for the Wild to post their third straight season of 100+ points. (Note: It would be the first such occasion in team history, going back to 2000-01).
With the start of Minnesota’s 82-game journey imminent, let’s look at some of the predictions made by hockey writers from around the web, as well as odds on certain stats.
Kirill The Thrill
No better way to dive into individual props for the Wild than studying the betting numbers on Kaprizov.
The 26-year-old Russian wing has averaged 1.33 and 1.12 points per game the last two seasons, posting 108 and 75 points in 81 and 67 skates since winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 2020-21.
A blend of production and potential make Kaprizov a solid choice to collect more hardware this season. DraftKings gives Kaprizov +1600 odds to take home the Hart Memorial Trophy – that’s tied for fifth best with Toronto superstar Auston Matthews. On FanDuel, Kaprizov’s chances are slightly lower, at +2000.
Both sportsbooks think highly of Kaprizov’s point outlook. DraftKings lists his over/under at 97.5 (-115) while FanDuel has him at -196 to record 90+ points and -113 with an over/under of 42.5 goals in the regular season. Personally, we love those odds.
Matt Boldy
In his second season in the NHL, Boldy scored 31 goals. Can he do it again? FanDuel has him at +124 to reach 30 goals for the second consecutive year.
The Gus Bus
Head coach Dean Evason has loathed to categorize either of his goalies as the No. 1, saying he’ll ride a hot hand. Don’t tell that to DraftKings, which has Filip Gustavsson as +2000 to win the Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender – that’s the eighth-best odds among NHL goalies.
The site also gives Gustavsson the sixth-best odds to lead the league in shutouts at -175.
DraftKings has Gustavsson’s over/under of wins at 25.5 (-125 over, -105 under).
All aboard!
Team predictions
As we noted above, there’s not a lot of juice for the Wild making noise when it comes to the Stanley Cup. Of course, that doesn’t mean there’s not some success predicted.
The Athletic projects the Wild to finish with 96.6 points and a 71% chance of making the playoffs (but just 2% on winning it all).
ESPN ranks Minnesota at No. 13 in its preseason power ranking but puts the Wild’s odds at winning the Stanley Cup at +3500.
Bryan Murphy of Sporting News predicts Minnesota to finish third in the Central Division and make the playoffs. It should be noted Murphy has just three Central teams reaching the postseason with both wild cards coming out of the Pacific.
Of course, all of the above are just predictions. We’ll see how things play out on the ice. We can’t wait for Thursday. Let’s play hockey!
