I'm not loving my pick of Seattle +1.5 as much now with the news that the Kraken tonight will be without several forwards on the COVID list/due to injury. I think they will struggle to score this season regardless, but especially tonight against a Golden Knights squad that's always among the best in the NHL defensively. Here's hoping Seattle netminder Philipp Grubauer can still keep this a low-scoring one-goal game as we will also hit the Under 5.5 goals with all that Kraken firepower on the bench. They could well be shut out.

My model says the Kraken cover in over 60 percent of the simulations, so you're getting strong value with them at this number. Seattle will be charged up as it plays the first game in franchise history. For an expansion team, the Kraken have several players capable of putting up goals. One of them is RW Jordan Eberle, who has hit the 20-goal plateau six times in his career. Seattle also has G Philipp Grubauer, who was second in the NHL last season with a 1.95 goals-against average. Look for the Kraken to keep it close, if not win outright.

This will be the Kraken’s first game so who knows how they will play, but I think that gives us some value honestly. Philip Grubauer has faced the Golden Knights plenty and he has a 2.10 GAA and .932 save percentage against them in 11 career games, so he is more than capable of stealing one in Vegas. This is also Robin Lehner’s first game as starting goalie after trading Marc Andre Fleury to the Blackhawks in the offseason, and the Knights first game after their shocking loss in the Conference Finals to the Canadiens. Take the value on the Kraken.

Look, I don't know if the Kraken will be any good in their expansion season. Will they reach the Stanley Cup Final like Vegas did in its expansion season? I think it's fair to say no. There doesn't appear to be a ton of offense on the Seattle roster, but the team has a very deep defensive group led by former Norris Trophy winner Mark Giordano. The Kraken are also stacked in net, led by Philipp Grubauer. Still shocked the Avalanche let him get away. Grubauer was No. 2 in the league last year in GAA at 1.95. I'll be hammering Seattle Unders a lot this season, and I'd lean the Under 5.5 goals here as well but will take the Kraken on the puckline because they are going to treat their debut like a playoff game. Vegas also dealt away its No. 1 netminder in Marc-Andre Fleury and while new No. 1 Robin Lehner is pretty good, he's not the Flower. Lehner also reportedly is dealing with an injury (still expected to play) and didn't look great in the preseason.