Detroit Red Wings have opportunity to crush multiple teams' playoff hopes

The Detroit Red Wings enter their centennial season with a weighty reality: if they miss the playoffs this year, it will mark the 10th straight season without a postseason appearance, extending the longest drought in franchise history. For a team with such a storied legacy, that is simply unacceptable.

According to new betting odds, two of the teams with the best chances of winning the Cup are in the Wings' Conference.

The path to the playoffs will not be easy. Detroit competes in the strong Atlantic Division and the broader Eastern Conference, against top playoff-contending teams like the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

In the Atlantic, the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators will also compete for a playoff spot, whereas the Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils, and New York Rangers will look to have deep playoff runs in the Metropolitan Division.

Latest betting odds state that the Hurricanes and the Panthers are the teams with the highest chances of going all the way in the entire NHL:

Unless one of the young teams like Montreal and Ottawa, who are expected to have strong seasons next year, underperforms, the Florida Panthers fall short due to the tough schedule of three straight runs to the Stanley Cup Finals, or the Toronto Maple Leafs struggle without Mitch Marner, it'll be tough for the Wings to make it.

If they do, at least one of last season's Eastern Conference playoff teams will face disappointment.

That question will loom over the Eastern Conference all season, making every inter-division game an important one, right from the start of the regular calendar.