The 2020-21 NHL season begins on Tuesday night with a pair of terrific games and the second matchup features the league's newest franchise — the Seattle Kraken — face off against the previous expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights.
NHL betting lines for the season opener hit the board with the Knights as massive -241 home favorites before shifting to -254.
Can Seattle pull off the big upset against their expansion older brother? We let you know what we think with our best free Kraken vs. Golden Knights picks and predictions for Tuesday, October 12, with the puck dropping at 10 p.m. ET.
Kraken vs Golden Knights odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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Kraken vs Golden Knights picks
Picks made on 10/12/2021 at 10 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Kraken vs Golden Knights game info
• Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
• Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2021
• Puck drop: 10:00 p.m. ET
• TV: Sportsnet, ESPN
Kraken vs Golden Knights betting preview
Injuries
Kraken: Yanni Gourde C (Out), Colin Blackwell LW (Out), Jamie Oleksiak D (Out), Jared McCann C (Out), Marcus Johansson LW (Out), Joonas Donskoi RW (Out), Calle Jarnkrok C (Out).
Golden Knights: Shea Theodore D (Probable), Zach Whitecloud D (Questionable), Alex Tuch RW (Out), Will Carrier LW (Questionable), Nic Roy C (Out), Brayden McNabb D (Probable).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Golden Knights are 42-16 in their last 58 home games. Find more NHL betting trends for Kraken vs. Golden Knights.
Vegas -1.5 (-105)
The Golden Knights entered the NHL in 2017 and took the league by storm, advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the Washington Capitals. They've been a contender ever since but have yet to get back to the Promised Land. Last season they knocked out the Cup favorite Avalanche in the second round and made it to the Stanley Cup semifinals, where they were expected to easily dispatch the upstart Montreal Canadiens — but instead the Habs shocked the world (or at least the English-speaking world) with an upset win.
The Knights enter this season with something to prove and they currently have the third-best odds of winning the Cup at +750. Vegas traded away goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the offseason but Robin Lehner (13-4-2 with a 2.29 goals-against average and .913 save percentage) was their 1B goalie anyway and he should thrive now that he isn't looking over his shoulder after every mistake.
Other than that, the Knights retained the core of a team that ranked near the top of the league in virtually every statistic, including goals scored, goals allowed, and Fenwick For percentage. They are skilled and deep up front led by Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty, and might be even more loaded on the blueline with Shea Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo, and Alec Martinez.
While the Kraken were able to put together a roster that should be somewhat competitive this season, they aren't expected to hang with the league's elite squads with Seattle at +5,000 on the futures odds board.
Seattle's biggest move was signing free agent goalie Philipp Grubauer following an incredible season for Colorado where he went 30-9-1 with a 1.95 GAA. While he should give the Kraken a reliable netminder that's capable of stealing a game every now and then, he'll also find the sledding tougher without a star-studded Avs lineup in front of him.
The Kraken have some solid pieces on defense but they might have the worst forward group in the league made up of a rag-tag group of castoffs and guys that never lived up to their potential. They are especially weak down the middle, which will create problems on both ends of the ice with the lack of playmaking ability and backchecking.
The future is bright for Seattle but it could be in for a rough inaugural season — and beginning it at T-Mobile Arena, where the Knights are 42-16 in their last 58 home games, will be tough.
Seattle team total Under 0.5 (+550)
We mentioned that the Kraken are lacking talent up front and things look even worse for them tonight as Seattle has five players in COVID-19 protocol: veteran defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and forwards Jared McCann, Marcus Johansson, Joonas Donskoi, and Calle Jarnkrok.
In addition, former Lightning Yanni Gourde was expected to be their best offensive player but is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, while another potential top-six forward in Colin Blackwell is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. This is a team that already didn't have much firepower and now they could be without as many as six players who were projected to slot in on the first three lines.
Add in the lack of chemistry between a group of guys just starting to play with each other and we might not see many scoring opportunities against a Vegas squad that ranked fifth in the league in shots allowed per 60 minutes last season.
Lehner picked up just one shutout last season with Fleury handling the majority of the workload, but he was outstanding when Vegas traded for him the previous year. As the Knights' No. 1 netminder during the 2020 postseason, Lehner had a 1.99 GAA in 16 games and posted four shutouts. There's value in backing the Kraken to get blanked at +550.
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