NHL Opening Week: Avalanche vs Kings Betting Preview
Avalanche Fans Believe Their Team Should Have Hoisted the Cup Last Season.
The Colorado Avalanche (0-0-0) start their quest for a fourth straight Central Division title, while the Los Angeles Kings (0-0-0) hope to win their first since 1990-91.
When we last saw the Colorado they were being escorted out of the first round of the playoffs by the Seattle Kraken in seven games.
That was the culmination of a season full of injuries which led to a poor start. The Kings also found themselves out of the postseason after losing in six to the Edmonton Oilers.
The Avalanche are a -111 road favorite with a total of 6 (-118 over). The puck drops at 10:07 pm ET / 7:07 pm PT and can be seen on TNT and MAX.
We start our Avalanche vs Kings betting preview with a look at Colorado from a betting perspective.
Avalanche vs Kings 
Date & Time:
Location: Crypto.com Arena
Streaming: TNT and MAX
Avalanche Needs New Parts to Step Up
Year after year we’re reminded that depth wins Stanley Cups. Fans will see familiar names among the Avalanche’s top six, but it’s the bottom six that must make their presence felt if Colorado is to make their way back to the final. There will be some new names that will play impactful minutes for Jared Bednar’s line-up after the departure of Evan Rodrigues, Lars Eller, JT Compher, and Alex Newhook.
The holes left will be by Ross Colton, acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay, Jonathan Drouin who will play top-line minutes, while Ryan Johansen will center the second line to start. Changes have been made by Av’s GM Don Waddell, making a deal to solidify organizational depth.
From a betting perspective, Colorado completed their fourth straight season with a profit (+214 units). Since 2019, the Avalanche are 188-102 (+14.41 units). Only the Boston Bruins (+20.39), New York Rangers (+17.47), and Edmonton Oilers (+15.90) have been better for the public in that span.
The Avalanche have beaten Los Angeles in 14 of their last 20 meetings, but because of massive NHL odds, Colorado has produced just 0.86 units. We continue our Avalanche vs Kings betting preview by turning our attention to Los Angeles.
Kings Expected to Maintain But not Advance
Depth at forward isn’t the only ingredient that legitimate Stanley Cup contenders need to play into June as the Vegas Golden Knights proved that last season on their way to their first championship in franchise history. We don’t think most will have to use five different netminders to hoist the cup, but it’s unclear as to what the Los Angeles Kings will get between starter Cam Talbot and backup Pheonix Copley.
Both owned negative goals above expected last season, making this an area that GM Rob Blake may need to address at some point although Copley finished last season with a 24-6-3 record. Many believe, this is the Kings’ clear weakness, and because of it will likely finish third again in the NHL standings.
Last year’s playoff starter, Joonas Korpisalo, was not resigned as a free agent and now plays in Ottawa. All we heard from Colorado fans in the offseason was how they were the best team in the league, despite a first-round exit. Like tonight’s opponent, the Kings have been a friend for bettors over the last two seasons with a record of 91-73 (+9.75 units). We conclude our Avalanche vs Kings betting preview with our official selection.
Side Presents Too Many Game One Questions
As we pointed out, we need to know what the identity of these two clubs is going to be before putting real cash behind either team. Instead, we’re more comfortable betting on the total to open the season.
Despite any go-against discussion points for bettors, we know that both NHL teams will retreat to a defensive style in order to protect their goaltending or until an offense can find cohesion with its new parts.
In game one, we’re going with the under 6.5 (-120). That concludes our Avalanche vs Kings preview, we wish you all the best with your wagers this season, it sure will be fun to see NHL scores on the betting card again.
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