The Colorado Avalanche'take on the Vegas Golden Knights as each team opens its season Wednesday. Puck drop from T-Mobile Arena is set for 10 p.m. ET (TNT). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Avalanche vs. Golden Knights odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Season series: First meeting; VGK won 2-1 last season
The Avs enter the ’24-25 campaign with roughly the same squad they had last year. Winger Valeri Nichushkin is expected to miss most of the first month due to suspension, and captain Gabriel Landeskog continues to recover from a knee injury. But a team that has 2 of the top 5 players in hockey in C Nathan MacKinnon and RD Cale Makar really doesn’t need to do much. They acquired C Casey Mittelstadt from Buffalo at the deadline last year, and he had 10 points in 18 games with the club. Look for him to improve upon that after a career-high 18 goals last year.
The Knights lost 2023 playoff hero Jonathan Marchessault, C Chandler Stephenson, G Logan Thompson, D Alec Martinez and LW William Carrier in the offseason. So they are going to look very different, and their depth will be tested. They were 27-12-2 at home last season, and they’re still a team that garners respect.