Kraken vs Kings NHL Odds, Picks, Predictions

Kraken vs. Kings Odds

The Seattle Kraken aren't a team that was rated highly going into the campaign. Unlike Vegas, the Kraken had a rough expansion season, posting a 27-49-6 record due to a weak offense and surprisingly bad goaltending.

They were expected to take at best an incremental step forward this season, but instead they're 13-5-3 with two of those victories coming against the Los Angeles Kings.

Yet, the odds are painting Los Angeles as the favorite, if only by a little. Does that make Seattle an easy bet or is there something more to consider?

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Kraken Improved Across the Board

When looking at the Kraken's success through the first quarter of the season, a big factor is their offense. When Seattle's inaugural team was assembled in 2021, it looked like a purely defense-first squad, and while the Kraken's goaltending in 2021-22 ultimately didn't measure up, one thing that wasn't surprising was Seattle scoring just 2.60 goals per game.

In stark contrast, Seattle has managed 3.57 goals per game so far this season, which puts the Kraken sixth offensively.

So what's at the heart of Seattle's offensive might? Well, signing Andre Burakovsky to a five-year, $27.5 million contract over the summer certainly helps. He set career highs with Colorado last season with 22 goals and 61 points in 80 contests, and the 27-year-old forward has shown that's no fluke, contributing seven goals and 21 points in 21 games this season.

The rise of Matthew Beniers is another big factor. The 20-year-old is an early favorite for the Calder Trophy with seven goals and 18 points in 21 contests.

As important as those two have been though, it's depth that characterizes Seattle's forward group. There are 42 NHL players at this point who have scored at least 10 goals. None of them play for Seattle.

Jared McCann is the team's leading goal scorer with eight markers. However, Seattle has 17 different players who have provided at least two goals. To give that some context, Vegas, which is a team that boasts considerable offensive depth itself, has 13 multi-goal players.

Los Angeles also lags behind Seattle with 14 multi-goal players and that's despite the Kings playing in three more games than Seattle.

The Kraken's defense has improved, too, though not necessarily the goaltending. Martin Jones, who joined Seattle on a one-year, $2 million contract, has started in the vast majority of the Kraken's games and has an 11-4-2 record, 2.58 GAA and .903 save percentage in 17 contests.

That save percentage is nothing special, but the Kraken's defense has picked up the slack. Seattle has allowed the third-fewest shots per game at just 27.2, which along with the Kraken's offensive depth has been the key to their success.

What's more is Seattle has shown no signs of slowing down. Quite the opposite actually. The Kraken have won 10 of their last 12 and five straight contests.

Kings Looking For Consistency

By contrast, Los Angeles is going into this game cold, having dropped four of its last five games. Even still, the Kings are a respectable 12-9-3.

Kevin Fiala, who the Kings acquired from Minnesota, continues to lead the charge for Los Angeles with seven goals and 22 points in 24 contests. He's backed up by Viktor Arvidsson, who's been hot lately with eight points in his last seven games, bringing him up to four goals and 17 points in 22 contests.

This is also shaping up to be one of the best seasons of Phillip Danault's career. He has seven goals and 18 points in 24 games and is showing no signs of slowing down give that he's recorded six points in his last seven contests.

However, the Kings overall have produced 3.17 goals per game, which is good for just 15th in the league. In other words, they're a merely middle-of-the-pack squad offensively.

One forward with the potential to help change that is Anze Kopitar. With four goals and 17 points in 24 contests, he certainly has chipped in, but Kopitar is the team captain and was once the driving force of the Kings' offense. He is 35 years old, so perhaps we're simply seeing the beginning of his decline, but we shouldn't dismiss the possibility of his scoring pace improving as the season goes on.

One player who should be on the rise, though, is Gabriel Vilardi. The 23-year-old got tastes of the NHL with the Kings in previous years, but his role was often limited. Now he's averaging 16:27 of ice time, up from 13:31 last season, but lately he hasn't taken advantage of his position.

After getting off to an amazing start with 10 goals and 15 points in his first 15 games this season, he's recorded a goal and no assists in his last eight contests. Getting him going again is vital for the Kings and in the long run, they're going to need to see more consistency out of him.

All of this focus on the offense is made more critical by the Kings' woeful goaltending and defense. Jonathan Quick, once one of the league's best, has a 7-6-2 record, 3.07 and .897 save percentage in 16 games. Calvin Petersen hasn't been a great alternative given his 5-3-1 record, 3.56 GAA and .876 save percentage in nine games.

This isn't a terrible team, but it's not a good one either.

Kraken vs. Kings Pick

Given Seattle's success in general and against Los Angeles specifically, the fact that the Kraken are hot while the Kings are cold, coupled with Los Angeles' overall mediocre play this season, it's surprising that the Kings are the ones the odds are painting as light favorites.

The one thing Los Angeles does have going for it is that it's the home team, but in this context is that enough of an advantage? Keep in mind, Los Angeles is 6-4-1 at home while Seattle is 7-1-1 on the road, so it's not as if the Kings have played especially strong at Crypto.com Arena or that the Kraken fall apart away from Seattle.

Anything is possible in any game, but if you were to take Seattle on the puck line where the spread is 1.5 goals against Los Angeles, in my mind you would be indulging in one of the safest single game bets you'll find this season.

However, the potential payout for such a bet isn't that great. I'd rather take a bit of a higher risk by selecting Seattle on the moneyline, given the significantly higher potential return.

Pick: Kraken +110 (bet to -110)

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