I don’t speak the language of hockey betting, but it comes as no surprise that The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn leads off his “NHL Futures” article by giving the Red Wings a “fade” for this upcoming season:
Detroit Red Wings
UNDER 90.5 points, -120 (Stake: 7.5 percent)
NO playoffs, -162 (7 percent)The Red Wings are easily my biggest fade this year. A 90.5-point total feels extremely generous for a team that felt fortunate to land at 91 last season. The Red Wings had the seventh worst expected goals percentage last season, but survived off hot shooting. They allowed the second most chances on the penalty kill, but countered that with unsustainably good goaltending.
All that would be fine if the team was relatively young (they’re not), made meaningful improvements in the offseason (they didn’t), or could count on declines from teams around them (not likely). Unless Simon Edvinsson is the missing a piece and a day-one god, it’s difficult to envision a playoff path for the Red Wings this season — or matching last year’s 91 point total.
Continued; whether it’s betting futures or season previews, the Red Wings are going to be “bagged on” often this month and next month. The team’s not going to get any real respect from the media, and that’s just the way it is. Detroit’s got to prove that it is a playoff team by going out on the ice and winning.
