Bruins Head to Minnesota as Underdogs Despite Matching 1-0 Starts
The B's open their season series at the Wild as road underdogs, leaning on a new $50.4 million building block and a splashy summer trade addition.
Alright, let's set the scene: it's Saturday, October 3, the Bruins are 1-0-0, the Wild are 1-0-0, and yet Boston is somehow walking into Grand Casino Arena as the betting underdog. DraftKings has Minnesota at -180 for this one, with the over/under sitting at 6.5. As a guy whose own career highlight was a well-placed fair catch, I can tell you that doesn't mean much on paper this early — but it does tell you what the house thinks of this Wild team at home.
Boston sits 2nd in the Atlantic Division early, and this is the first meeting of the season series between these two, so there's no history to lean on yet. That's where the storylines come in.
Three things I can't stop thinking about:
- Fraser Minten is already the straw that stirs the drink. The 22-year-old center signed a seven-year, $50.4 million extension with Boston on September 8, 2026 — a deal that runs through 2033-34 and pays him $7.2 million a year. Last season he played all 82 games and set career highs with 17 goals, 18 assists and 35 points, the most by a Bruins rookie since 2017-18, with a league-best +21 among rookie skaters. One game into this year, he's already Boston's leader in goals (1), assists (1) and points (2). THAT'S the kind of start that makes a big contract look smart fast.
- JJ Peterka is the new toy. Boston brought in the 24-year-old winger from Utah in a June 2026 trade, giving up the No. 23 pick in the 2026 draft and a conditional 2028 first-rounder (originally Florida's) to get him. Peterka put up 47 points — 25 goals, 22 assists — in 82 games with Utah last season, though he was held off the scoresheet in six playoff games. He's got four years left on a five-year, $38.5 million deal. The pressure's on him to show that production travels.
- Minnesota's banged up in a scary way. Defenseman Brock Faber is on injured reserve after skull surgery, and goaltender Filip Gustavsson is out following hip surgery. Those aren't your average day-to-day dings. Boston's dealing with its own absence up front, with center Matthew Poitras on IR with a lower-body injury.
Both clubs are coming off mixed bags lately — Boston's last five reads win-win-loss-loss-win, Minnesota's a similar seesaw. Nobody's rolling in on a heater.
How to watch: Saturday, October 3 at 8:00 PM ET, from Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul. Catch it on ESPN+, MINNHL or NESN.
Our take: I don't love being an underdog on paper, but losing a top-pairing defenseman and your starting goalie to surgery is a brutal way to open a season, and that's Minnesota's reality right now. Give me Minten riding his new contract to another big night and the Bruins stealing one on the road.
