Kraken vs. Golden Knights prediction: NHL opening night odds, picks

Tuesday night belongs to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Four months after defeating the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, the Knights will raise their first banner to the rafters at T-Mobile Arena before taking on the Seattle Kraken in the final game on Opening Night 2023. 

The Knights are -170 favorites to kick off their Stanley Cup defense with a win Tuesday.

Kraken vs. Golden Knights prediction

(10:30 p.m. ET., ESPN)

Normally a team that is busy making moves in the offseason, the Golden Knights largely stood pat this summer.

Reilly Smith is now in Pittsburgh, but other than that this team looks very similar to the one that lifted the Stanley Cup four months ago.

The Knights are deep down the middle and have a sturdy blueline that was exceptional at limiting time and space during the postseason.

Adin Hill, the feel-good story of the playoffs last spring, will return as the team’s No. 1 goaltender, though it is fair to wonder if he will put up the sparkling numbers he did during his first season in Vegas or if he will revert back to the average netminder that struggled to find his footing with Arizona and San Jose. 

Seattle, too, is largely an unchanged outfit from last season, when the Kraken made it to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Some depth players like Daniel Sprong and Carson Soucy have moved on, but Seattle’s strength remains its ability to roll four lines and three pairs.

There may not be much starpower on this roster (although Matty Beniers is on his way), but there’s an effective player in every role in this lineup. 

There’s a lot more pencil and paper handicapping required in the first few games of the season as we’re trying to gather data on different teams, but these two clubs are pretty settled from last season and we have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

That’s why I think Seattle is a live underdog to spoil the party in Vegas. 

Because of their depth and ability to come at you in waves, the Kraken were a team that punched up quite well last season and I don’t expect that to change in 2023-24.

Teams this deep will always be dangerous as underdogs because there won’t be chunks of the game where they are outclassed and can’t keep up with contenders like Vegas. 

It’s always better to err on the side of underdogs out of the gates, and that’s what I’ll do here.

The Bet: Seattle Kraken +145 (Bet365)