How Far Will The Wild Go In The Playoffs? Here’s A Breakdown Of The Odds
The Minnesota Wild have made the playoffs for their chase of the Stanley Cup. As of today, we don't know their first round opponent yet, but hockeywilderness.com predicts it will be the Las Vegas Golden Nights, or maybe the Colorado Avalanche. But can the Wild advance beyond that first round of playoffs that have always been a brick wall for the team?
The odds once again are not in their favor. Moneypuck says they have a 39.2% chance of making the second round. This is all based on computer simulations, which have actually gotten pretty accurate over the years. The Wild then have a 16.2% chance of making the third round, and a 7% chance of making the finals. To win it all, it's currently at a 3% chance.
But you're saying there's a chance? Of course there's the reason we play the games, because predictions can be far off. Moneypuck's prediction for the team with the biggest odds of winning the Stanley Cup as being the Colorado Avalanche with a 17.7% chance. The Wild would have to face the Avalanche at some point to get to the finals.
If you look at the best chances for winning in the odds and rank them downwards it teams that are going to or likely going to the playoffs, the Wild rank 11. It would be nice to see this team at least advance in the playoffs, especially after their sweep in the shortened 2020 season.
Just in case you don't remember the pain of being a MN sports fan, Here's the Wild's playoff record in recent years:
- 2015-2016 Lost to the Stars in the first round
- 2016-2017 lost to the Blues in the first round
- 2017-2018 lost to the Jets in the first round
- 2018-2019 didn't make the playoffs
- 2019-2020 lost in the qualifying round to the Canucks.