The 2024-25 NHL regular season kicks off Friday and that means the hockey world has been inundated with preview content over the last few days.

And while most of these previews will focus on the top of the league, the race to the bottom (aka winning the Wooden Spoon) could be as compelling as it has been in quite some time.

That’s because, for the first time in several years, there aren’t any teams that are going fully in the tank.

San Jose, Chicago, Ottawa, Columbus, Philadelphia, Arizona/Utah, Montreal, Buffalo and Detroit have all gone through this process in recent campaigns, but all of them are at least a couple of seasons into their rebuilds and that means they should all be taking steps forward this season. 

Hopefully, this means the days with multiple teams under 60 points are now a thing of the past (last season there were three: Sharks, Blackhawks and Ducks. 

That could mean we see a surprising team completely bottom out this season.

Here are two contenders with value, including one long shot, in the futures market for the worst regular-season record in 2024-25:

This is a long shot, but there is a path to success for this bet. The Wild didn’t push for a playoff spot last season and it’s fair to wonder if they’ll take a step back again due to some roster flaws. 

They have a superstar in Kirill Kaprizov, but the rest of the roster is lacking bite and their depth down the middle and on the blueline is concerning. That doesn’t even mention their goaltending situation, which is muddled at best.

The other notable thing here is that the Wild are still in salary-cap prison and will try to set themselves up as best as they can for next October when their dead money comes off the books. That means we could see Minnesota aggressively sell pieces if it falls out of contention early. 

You could make an argument that the Flames are the only team in the NHL that is actively tearing things down and are in rebuild mode.

They have spent the last calendar year shedding salary and building toward the future, but they were not committed to contending just a couple of seasons ago. That led to them landing veteran players like Nazem Kadri, Mackenzie Weegar, Blake Coleman and Jonathan Huberdeau, which made it nearly impossible for them to go fully into the tank. 

The problem is that the Flames have given those players very little support around the edges, which has completely cratered expectations in CowTown. 

If the Flames struggle, which is expected, they will try to trade away as many of these veterans as possible, and that should set up a situation where this looks like one of the worst teams in the spring.

Michael Leboff handicaps the EPL, NHL, golf and anything else that isn’t the NFL and NBA for the NY Post. He’s up 49.73 units betting EPL with a 7.17% ROI.