The Blues brought in several reinforcements this offseason to help take the pressure off Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas, and others. This will only help round St. Louis into a well-oiled machine, giving it the edge vs. Seattle.
NHL
Two teams that watched this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs from the sideline hope to change their fortunes in 2024-25, as the St. Louis Blues visit the Seattle Kraken, kicking off their campaigns.
While both teams made moves to sag their pop-gun offenses, our Blues vs. Kraken predictions are leaning on St. Louis, who has dominated this head-to-head.
Check below for more on my free Blues vs Kraken NHL picks on Tuesday, October 8.
My best bet
Blues moneyline (+120 at DraftKings)
My analysis
After ranking 24th in scoring last year, St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong tried to bolster a roster that has legit talent by using offer sheets to pluck a pair of recent first-round picks from the Oilers: defenseman Phillip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway, while dealing for forwards Radek Faksa (Dallas) and Alexandre Texier (Columbus).
More offense can help shelter the Blues’ average defense, which ranked middle of the pack in goals allowed a season ago at 3.02 per game.
The Seattle Kraken offense was even more dire than St. Louis’ last year, ranking 29th in scoring, with forwards Jared McCann and Oliver Bjorkstrand the only Kraken to reach at least 20 goals on the year.
The Kraken bounced Dave Hakstol, the only head coach they’d ever known, for Dan Bylsma, who hopes to install a more up-tempo offense, while also integrating free agents Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour into the roster.
The Blues have won three straight meetings and are 7-2 in nine matchups against Seattle since they joined the NHL in the 2022-23 season. Their offensive additions to help the likes of Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and Brayden Schenn — all of whom eclipsed the 20-goal plateau last year — will be more than enough to counter Seattle’s improvements on Day 1.
Seattle is 0-2-1 all-time in season opening games, though this will be its first time playing Game 1 at home. St. Louis has won three of the four meetings at Climate Pledge Arena.
The Kraken had the fourth-fewest home wins in the Western Conference a year ago, one less win than the Blues had on the road.
No need to overthink this one
Blues moneyline
Jordan Kyrou anytime goal
Robert Thomas Under 1.5 shots on goal
Kyrou led the Blues in goal-scoring a season ago with 31 tallies, and he lit the lamp in two of the three matchups with the Kraken last year.
In eight career matchups with Seattle, he’s piled up five goals and an assist, including goals in three of the last four games.
Thomas might’ve just been outside the Top 20 in scoring last season, but he was just inside the Top 130 in shots on goal, with 170 on the year, an average of just over two shots per game.
He failed to register even two shots on goal in any meeting with the Kraken, so we’ll stay on that trend for Tuesday.
Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.
St. Louis has won five of its last six road openers as underdogs. Find more NHL betting trends for Blues vs. Kraken.
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Eric has been involved in sports media in many different capacities since graduating from journalism school in 1999, back when getting your own column in a newspaper was still considered a thing. He doubled down and graduated from broadcast journalism school five years later, which led to a move to Toronto and a career with The Sports Network (TSN). From behind-the-scenes production work, he moved into the digital realm, where he had his own hoops column (At the Buzzer), while regularly live streaming and chatting with fans during broadcasts as the character known as LeBlog James. He was also a key contributor to TSN and CTV’s Olympic programming during the 2012 London Games.
Eric eventually found his way into the sports betting field in 2016 and has been a mainstay ever since. He was tagged on Twitter as a Top 10 NBA sharp during the 2021 season and has been interviewed about basketball and his handicapping process on shows from Vancouver to India. Eric is now a jack-of-all-sports at Covers, where his predictions span the alphabet soup: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, F1, WNBA, Euro, and Copa.
When making picks, he focuses on finding value first and foremost, and ensuring readers have all the information they need to make an informed choice.
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