NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction: Blackhawks vs Kraken (Thursday, December 14)
Christopher Mast/NHLI via Getty Images. Pictured: Joey Daccord #35 and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare #41 of the Seattle Kraken
Blackhawks vs. Kraken Odds
| Blackhawks Odds | +190 |
| Kraken Odds | -230 |
| Over / Under | 5.5 -138/ +112 |
Going into the campaign, Seattle would have been regarded as an overwhelming favorite against Chicago. However, with the Kraken underperforming, are the Blackhawks the better pick tonight?
Let's discuss that while previewing the upcoming contest and offering a Blackhawks vs. Kraken prediction and betting angle for Thursday, Dec.
If we end this article by recommending the Blackhawks, it will say more about how much Seattle has fallen than it will be an endorsement of Chicago.
In 2022-23, when the Blackhawks were built like a team hoping to win the Connor Bedard lottery, they had a 7-17-4 record through 28 games. Now, after drafting one of the top prospects of this generation, they've basically proved to be just as bad this year, posting a 9-18-1 record thus far.
Bedard has 12 goals and 24 points in 28 contests, so the rookie is delivering on the hype. But that's about all Chicago has going for it.
No other player has reached the 10-goal milestone, and just one other Blackhawk has at least 15 points: Philipp Kurashev, who's contributed six goals and 16 points.
That's led to the Blackhawks having the second-worst offense this year with 2.36 goals per game. They also rank 31st in xGF/60 with 2.59, so bad puck luck isn't to blame. Chicago is genuinely this bad at putting the puck in the net.
The Blackhawks are only marginally better at their own end, ranking 27th with 3.46 goals allowed per contest. Petr Mrazek has had his moments, including his 37-save shutout victory over Anaheim last Thursday, but he hasn't been able to compensate for Chicago's poor defense (the squad ranks 29th in xGA/60 with 3.47) on most nights.
The result is Mrazek has a 3.09 GAA and a .909 save percentage in 17 contests. Backup Arvid Soderblom has been even worse, posting a 3.66 GAA and an .882 save percentage in 13 outings.
With all that, you might wonder if there's any silver lining with Chicago. In the long run, the Blackhawks have the start of a good core, but for tonight, no, there is no silver lining here.
So Chicago is just as bad as advertised, but what about the Kraken?
Despite finishing just one win shy of the Western Conference Finals last year, Seattle is off to a 9-14-7 start in 2023-24. Seattle even suffered a 4-3 loss to the lowly Blackhawks on Nov. 28.
Will the bad times continue for the Kraken?
Seattle has mostly the same roster as it had a year ago, but this campaign, the scoring hasn't been there. The Kraken tied for fourth offensively in 2022-23 with 3.52 goals per game, and that's dropped to just 2.57 this season.
It doesn't help that forwards Jaden Schwartz (lower body) and Andre Burakovsky (undisclosed) are injured, but Seattle has also seen Jordan Eberle, Matthew Beniers and Yanni Gourde slip significantly in 2023-24 compared to their production last campaign.
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Similar to Chicago, it doesn't appear to be a question of bad luck either. Even if you look at Seattle's xGF/60, they rank 29th with 2.74.
This kind of offensive drop-off would be a major blow to any team, but it's especially bad for Seattle, which lacks solid goaltending. Philipp Grubauer (lower body) isn't an option tonight, but he's struggled since joining Seattle in 2021-22 anyway.
Joey Daccord has actually been better this campaign, though he's left plenty to be desired too with a 4-5-6 record, 2.73 GAA and .902 save percentage in 16 appearances.
Still, Daccord has stopped 47 of 49 shots over his last two starts, so at least he's hot going into a game against a weak offensive squad.
Blackhawks vs. Kraken
Betting Pick & Prediction
Unless its offense can rebound, there isn't much to like about Seattle, but even in its current state, it should still beat Chicago a majority of the time – the Nov. 28 loss notwithstanding.
Consequently, the Kraken's underwhelming play hasn't been enough to prevent them from being treated as overwhelming favorites on the moneyline. It might be tempting to chase the big potential payout that selecting the Blackhawks would bring, but Chicago's not a good enough team for me to recommend that.
Instead, I will recommend the Kraken on the puck line and take them -1.5.
Daccord doing well recently and the Kraken coming off a strong 4-0 victory over Florida on Tuesday both factor into my decision, but this choice is a greater reflection on the Blackhawks' woes than confidence in the Kraken.
Pick: Seattle Kraken -1.5 (+114 at FanDuel) | Play down to +100
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