NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction: Wild vs Kraken (Saturday, February 24)
Steph Chambers/Getty Images. Pictured: Matty Beniers #10 of the Seattle Kraken
Wild vs. Kraken Odds
| Wild Odds | +116 |
| Kraken Odds | -140 |
| Over / Under | 5.5 -134o / +110u |
Here's everything you need to know about the Minnesota Wild vs. Seattle Kraken on Saturday, February 24 – our expert NHL prediction and pick.
Seattle and Minnesota have done well recently, but both squads are still behind in the wild-card race and are running out of games before management needs to settle on a plan for the March 8 trade deadline.
That makes Saturday's game an important one, so let's preview the upcoming contest and offer a Wild vs. Kraken pick and prediction.
The Wild had a record of 17-20-5 after a 6-0 loss to Arizona on Jan. 13, but they've rebounded since, winning 10 of their last 15, including six of their last eight to climb to 27-24-6. That puts them just two points behind St. Louis in the fight for the second wild-card spot, though they'd also have to get past Nashville in their pursuit of that playoff berth.
Minnesota's top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy have been instrumental in their recent success. Kaprizov has been especially hot with 11 goals and 23 points over 12 games since Jan. 19. Only Connor McDavid has more points and just Auston Matthews has more goals over the same timeframe.
However, Eriksson Ek is on a roll too with seven goals and 14 points during his active seven-game scoring streak while Matt Boldy has supplied six goals and 13 points in the same stretch.
Taking in the Wild's campaign as a whole, they rank a middling 15th offensively with 3.11 goals per game, but that's jumped to an average of 3.73 dating back to Jan. 13, so it's not an exaggeration to say that Seattle will be facing one of the hottest forward groups in the league.
Minnesota has its vulnerabilities, though. Although the Wild rank 12th defensively with an xGA/60 of 3.01, their goaltending hasn't lived up to its end of the bargain. Marc-Andre Fleury has struggled with an 11-10-3 record, 2.96 GAA and .897 save percentage in 27 contests while Filip Gustavsson has been even worse, posting a 16-13-3 record, 3.23 GAA and .896 save percentage through 34 games.
That duo was great last year and their decline in 2023-24 is a big part of the reason why Minnesota is currently shy of a postseason position.
On top of that, the Wild played Friday, and while it was a 4-2 victory over Edmonton, fatigue is a potential concern.
Seattle will need the Wild's goaltending struggles to continue tonight, because the Kraken's offense usually can't get the job done on their own, ranking 27th this year with 2.77 goals per game.
The main problem is a lack of star power. They have three players with at least 40 points and eight with at least 20 while Minnesota has four and nine, respectively.
However, Minnesota's leading scorer is Jared McCann with 25 goals and 45 points, which falls short of Minnesota's Zuccarello (11 goals, 46 points), Boldy (22 goals, 46 points), Eriksson Ek (28 goals, 53 points) and Kaprizov (24 goals, 60 points).
On the bright side, McCann has three goals and six points over his past two contests, and he's on a six-game scoring streak (five goals, 10 points), so the Wild don't hold a monopoly on hot forwards. Seattle is also 3-0-1 in its last four games, giving the team a 24-21-11 record, so not much divides the two squads there either. In fact, a win tonight would put Seattle ahead of Minnesota in the wild-card race.
Still, it's fair to say that if Seattle is going to win this contest, it will need to find a way to slow the Wild's attack. In that regard, Seattle has reason for optimism.
The Kraken rank second defensively with an xGA/60 of 2.74, and Joey Daccord is having a fantastic campaign with a 16-11-10 record, 2.37 GAA and .921 save percentage in 38 games. He will need at least some goal support – something he lacked when he stopped 23 of 25 Wild shots en route to a 3-0 loss Dec. 10 – but as long as his teammates help him out, Daccord is capable of carrying the contest the rest of the way.
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Wild vs. Kraken
Betting Pick & Prediction
Oddsmakers are billing Seattle as a modest favorite, likely because the game will be in Seattle and the Wild are playing for the second time in as many nights. The latter is of particular concern – Minnesota is 2-5-2 while scoring 2.78 goals per game and allowing 3.89 goals against on no rest.
Under other circumstances, I would take the Wild given that they feature the hottest line in the league, but that lack of rest is too big of a risk for me, especially against a superb defensive team like Seattle.
For that reason, I recommend siding with Seattle for tonight's game.
The Pick: Seattle Kraken Moneyline (-134 at FanDuel| Play to -145)
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