Kraken vs. Golden Knights Odds
| Kraken Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -178 | 6.5 +112o / -138u | +138 |
| Golden Knights Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +146 | 6.5 +112o / -138u | -166 |
We’ve made it.
The 2023-24 NHL season is upon us and has given us a three-game slate on Opening Night tonight. The reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights will hang their banner prior to hosting the Seattle Kraken.
Vegas is coming into this season with a very similar team to the one that won it all in June. It’ll be missing two cogs on the blue line in Zach Whitecloud (injury) and Alec Martinez (injury), and Reilly Smith was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Regardless, I still expect the Knights to be a force to be reckoned with.
Seattle surprised us all last season and will also be featuring a very familiar squad, though the Kraken did add Brian Dumoulin, Kailer Yamamoto and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.
Seattle Kraken
The Kraken are looking to take a gigantic step forward this season. Many people weren’t expecting them to be a contender so soon, but they gained a ton of believers.
Jared McCann wasn’t the star of the postseason, but he did notch 40 goals during the regular season. I also expect a big year out of Matty Beniers, who is fresh off his Calder Trophy victory. Defenseman Vince Dunn will also look to build off his 64-point season and prove he’s worth the contract he signed over the offseason.
The Kraken managed to drive play at a pretty efficient 51.71 xGF% last season and I can only expect that number to rise as the chemistry gets better in the Emerald City.
Even with the weapons they have, the Kraken have had a hard time succeeding on the power play. Seattle failed to eclipse a 20% success rate in both the regular season and playoffs. However, killing penalties wasn't so bad. The regular season was inconsistent, but in the playoffs, Seattle stuffed the opposition 83% of the time.
One of the biggest questions heading into the season is goaltending. It looked like Philipp Grubauer found his groove toward the latter half of the season, but his numbers were very underwhelming. He had a .895 SV% with a -0.7 GSAx during the season and a .903 SV% in the playoffs.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights have the fifth-highest odds (+1300) to win the Cup. Captain Mark Stone comes into this season fully healthy and Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault will look to build off on his successful playoff campaign.
A season ago, Vegas drove play at a solid pace and ranked in the top 10 of expected goals with a 52-54 xGF%. I can see that continuing this season, along with Vegas' steady power play.
The power play was about league average (21% – 23%) all season, but the penalty kill needs some work. The Knights were able to get by with a subpar penalty kill and teetered at around 77% in the regular season, but dropped to 72% in the postseason. Without Martinez and Whitecloud, the defense will have to take a hit and it’ll be up to Ben Hutton and Brayden Pachal to step up.
Adin Hill may be the most intriguing storyline for Vegas this season. Hill recently re-signed with a lucrative two-year deal, but will we see the same Hill we saw in the playoffs?
He holds a career .910 SV% and had an OK +0.9 GSAx (Goals Saved Above Expected) last season. Conversely, his .932 SV% in the postseason had people thinking he took a new step forward.
Kraken vs. Golden Knights
Betting Pick & Prediction
I’m high on the Kraken this year, but against Vegas, I’m having a hard time seeing a victory.
The goaltending will certainly be worth monitoring in this game. Grubauer showed up to help Seattle in the postseason, but I’m still very iffy on him. He was erratic in net and can't be trusted until he proves that he’s back to being the netminder we saw when he was in Colorado.
There will also be a lot of good vibes in T-Mobile Arena. The Vegas faithful will watch their team raise the Stanley Cup banner, and I expect that arena to be rocking all night. It’s no secret that the Knights thrive in front of their fans, and I’m predicting they’ll have their way with the Kraken.
I’m backing Vegas, by a lot.
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