In their Opening Night matchup, look for Cale Makar to stand out as a shot creator, driving the Avalanche offense closer to the net from the blue line.
NHL
Cale Makar is arguably the best and most productive defenseman in the sport. His playmaking always seems to be on full display against Los Angeles – he’s recorded at least one helper in 12 of the past 14 against them.
My Avalanche vs. Kings predictions see Makar picking up where he left off on opening night of the 2025-26 campaign.
Let’s break down my October 7 NHL picks.
Avalanche vs Kings Best bet: Cale Makar Over 0.5 assists (-130)
The Los Angeles Kings are a strong shot suppression team that does a great job of clogging up shooting lanes and layering their defense, making it difficult to get pucks through from range.
That really showed up in their head-to-head meetings with the Colorado Avalanche. Cale Makar is one of the league’s best shot producing defensemen and yet he recorded only one shot on goal over two games against Los Angeles last season.
He only attempted four shots in aggregate, a total he sometimes matches in just one period of play.
Makar clearly didn’t have many shooting lanes or opportunities to get downhill and put his shot to use. Instead, he was forced to move the puck and try to facilitate chances for others. He did a great job of that, recording three assists over the two games.
The Kings’ forward core remains largely intact but their defense downgraded with the likes of Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin replacing Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence.
That could lead to more room for the forwards to operate in the offensive zone and some breakdowns closer to the net. If that’s the case, Makar will surely get them the puck to take advantage.
The Kings were not just great at limiting shots last season. They were great at limiting shots to defensemen. Only Vegas, Colorado, and Carolina allowed fewer shots per game to the position.
Adrian Kempe is a high volume shooter who, with home ice, will be able to get more run in favorable matchups. He had at least three shots in all three games against the Avalanche a year ago. In a contract year, I expect Kempe to come out firing.
Cale Makar has an assist in nine of his past 10 games against Los Angeles. Find more NHL betting trends for Avalanche vs. Kings.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
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Todd Cordell is a data-driven betting analyst. He uses numbers to help identify value across a wide variety of sports, with NHL being his specialty. Shot props, in particular, have proven to be a very fruitful market. Todd has served as a betting analyst in the public sphere for many years, most recently with theScore covering the NHL and MLB.
When not writing about sports betting, Todd stays busy analyzing the New Jersey Devils with a fine-tooth comb for InfernalAccess, his Devils-centric blog. Todd attended Sheridan College and graduated in 2014 with a diploma in print journalism.
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