Thursday night in a fresh NHL season brings a Pacific Division matchup between the Seattle Kraken and Calgary Flames. These opponents do not enter the season highly-touted but will look to start their campaign on the right foot by earning two points. Here is our Kraken vs Flames prediction to get you ready for puck drop. The Flames kick off a season looking to improve on a 77-point, 29th overall season last year. And while I expect them to take strides, they may be in for another challenging season. However, one big off-ice factor that may spark this Flames team to victory is the fact this is the final home opener in the historic Scotiabank Saddledome. It will be a spectacle on Thursday, one that should have this young and energetic Calgary team ready to rock.
A result of selling major assets over the past number of years, is Calgary has collected a nice core of young players to build around, such as Dustin Wolf, Zayne Parekh, Matt Coronato and recently-aquired Simon Nemec to name a few. These players (and more) not only have excellent potential but are already threats on the ice, and they are hungry to take that next step. I also give the edge in net to Calgary, as young Dustin Wolf has been tough to beat compared to Joey Daccord and Phillip Grubauer in Seattle. Grubauer is a veteran presence can’t always outweigh their inconsistent play. Seattle seems to be in limbo with what its roster is, especially after some key departures in Jaden Schwartz, Jamie Oleksiak and Eeli Tolvanen in the offseason. They will be searching for even more answers after a road loss to start their season. For this Kraken vs Flames prediction, I'm going with Calgary on the money line.
Kraken vs Flames prediction: Calgary ML (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -120.
