Kraken to open inaugural season vs. Golden Knights [UPDATE]

The Seattle Kraken are in the middle of drafting their team in the NHL Expansion Draft, yet we keep getting more details on the schedule heading into Thursday. The Kraken will face their Pacific Northwest rival the Vancouver Canucks in their home opener on Saturday, October 23 to start the 2021-22 season.

The Kraken are about halfway through announcing their picks in the expansion draft. The NHL announced on Wednesday that the full schedule for the 2021-22 season will be released on Thursday. So we’ll know the rest of the Kraken schedule soon enough. So far in the expansion draft, Seattle has selected a few notable names, including Jordan Eberle, Yanni Gourde, Jared McCann and Brandon Tanev.

The Kraken will open up the season against the Vegas Golden Knights in Las Vegas on October 12 as part of a doubleheader on ESPN for opening night for 2021-22. The Pittsburgh Penguins will face the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the early game.

DraftKings Sportsbook already has opening lines for Kraken vs. Golden Knights on opening night. Not surprising the Golden Knights are heavy favorites at home at -240 on the moneyline while the Kraken are +195. There’s some (very little, but some) value in the ML for Seattle knowing their roster may improve a bit during free agency, the NHL Draft and potential trades. Even after all that, Vegas on the -1.5 puckline for +115 feels like easy money.

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