St. Louis Blues To Make The Playoffs (+1300)
We are not at the halfway point of the 2024-25 NHL season, with the Four Nations Faceoff taking place over the next few weeks. As such, now is a good time to take a look at the futures market on BetMGM to see if we can find some value while numbers are stable during this small hiatus from play. There are a few bets that I invested in so far, and I’ll be giving them out here on site. I wrote about the New York Rangers already to make the playoffs in the East at a nice +130 number.
This one is a longer shot, and at 13/1, is pretty unlikely to hit. However, I can see a pathway for it to cash in the second half of the season, and I think taking a small stab at it at this kind of number for some baby peanuts is worth it. The St. Louis Blues have not been a very good hockey team, there is no question about that. I am not backing them to make the playoffs because I think they are “good” per se, but betting more on some other teams to regress down to their mean.
Taking a look right now at the current Wild Card standings in the Western Conference, the Blues are eight points out of the final spot in the playoffs. That is certainly a lot to overcome, but not impossible, and the teams that are above them for that spot are quite the fade. Right now, the Vancouver Canucks hold the final spot with 63 points. This is a team that is averaging less than 26 shots on goal per night with a -11 goal differential. They have been fortunate enough to lose 11 games in overtime, picking up a point for each of those losses. I think Vancouver might regress in the second half, with more losses in regulation.
Then, you have the Calgary Flames and Utah Hockey Club. Calgary is five points ahead of St. Louis, while Utah is just two points in front. The Flames are one of the most middle of the pack teams in the NHL, averaging the exact same shots for and against, although the goal differential is far worse. They have a -17 in that department, which is actually tied with the Blues. Utah is a bit better with a -12 goal differential, but this is still not a good Hockey Club.
The Blues, as I mentioned, are certainly not that great. They have a -17 goal differential and have lacked offensive firepower. However, they have just five overtime losses compared to the rivals in front of them, who have been much more fortunate to pick up points. The Blues also have a pretty average strength of schedule remaining, whereas the teams above them will have a tougher time.
St. Louis still has three games to play against the terrible Nashville Predators, two games against the Kraken, Penguins, and Ducks, and also still have games against the Blackhawks and Canadiens left. If they can win a majority of those, as well as getting a few upsets against the better teams they face or at least going to overtime to pick up a point, I don’t think it is crazy for the Blues to make the playoffs.
At 13/1 odds, I threw a small wager on this one in the hope of some regression for the teams ahead of them.