Colorado Avalanche vs. Seattle Kraken Playoff Series Best Bets

The defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche will kick off their title defense in Round 1, where they take on the Seattle Kraken. This is an interesting matchup for a variety of reasons. The Kraken are playing just their sophomore season in the NHL, while the Avalanche are trying to continue their reign as one of the NHL’s best teams. Colorado Avalanche (-280) vs. Seattle Kraken (+225) 

Colorado Avalanche

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat. There’s no reason the Colorado Avalanche can’t go back-t0-back. Sure, their captain Gabriel Landeskog has been ruled out for the postseason, but he already missed the entire regular season, and the Avs still found themselves on top of the Central division. 

Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon are the top best players in this series, and they demonstrated during their run last year that they know how to elevate their games when the stakes are raised. 

After putting together an outstanding debut season in Colorado, Alexandar Georgiev gives the Avalanche an advantage in goal. It’s hard to find many flaws with Colorado as they try and repeat. They’re sizable favorites in this opening-round matchup against Seattle, and for good reason. 

Seattle Kraken

What a story. There’s no other way to frame what the Kraken were able to accomplish in just their second season in the league. Something is evidently in the water for expansion teams in the NHL, factoring in that the Vegas Golden Knights got off to a torrid start and are still proving to be viable contenders.

The Kraken might not have given that same vibe in their inaugural season, where they struggled to find consistency, but they flipped the script in Year 2 and qualified for the postseason as the top wild-card team in the West. 

Seattle will have its work cut out against the battle-tested Avalanche. In saying that, Seattle’s one of the highest-scoring offenses in the NHL, and they do so by committee, meaning there’s reason to believe what they bring to the postseason is sustainable. Some players on this roster have playoff experience, which should give them a fighting chance in this series, even though the franchise is set to get its first taste of playoff hockey. 

The biggest question mark for me surrounding Seattle is whether or not they can get the goaltending needed to win this series. Whichever netminder the Kraken ultimately starts in this matchup doesn’t exactly give you confidence in limiting Colorado. 

Verdict

Even though the Kraken have a bright future ahead of them, it’s hard to envision them bottling up their regular season results and finding a way past Colorado. The Avs steamrolled through the Western Conference last year, and although it’s hard to envision them doing that this time around, this series is a great opener and one they should be able to set the tone in. With that, a gentleman’s sweep is in order here, and we also like superstar forward Nathan MacKinnon to lead the set in scoring.

Best Bet: Colorado Avalanche to Win Series 4-1 (+330), Nathan MacKinnon to Lead Series in Scoring (+280)