Steve Starr
- BetOnline has games lines for opening night of the 2021-22 NHL season
- The league released its 1,312-game schedule, 82 for each team, last Thursday
- The National Hockey League will have a new broadcast home when the puck drops on October 12
Welcoming hockey back to the network for the first time since 2004, ESPN’s opening-night doubleheader will feature a matchup between the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins followed by a game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the league’s newest expansion team, the Seattle Kraken.
TNT will air its inaugural NHL coverage the next night, with a doubleheader of the New York Rangers at the Washington Capitals followed by the Chicago Blackhawks at the Colorado Avalanche.
While we’re still over two months away, let’s look at the opening odds for the NHL’s opening slate of games. And check out our NHL betting tips page for advice on how to wager on hockey.
2021-22 NHL Hockey Games
 | Money Line | Total Points |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | +125 | Ov 6 (-115) |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | -138 | Un 6 (+104) |
| Seattle Kraken | +240 | Ov 5½ (+115) |
| Vegas Golden Knights | -271 | Un 5½ (-127) |
| New York Rangers | +118 | Ov 6 (-115) |
| Washington Capitals | -130 | Un 6 (+104) |
| Montreal Canadiens | +165 | Ov 5½ (-120) |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | -183 | Un 5½ (+109) |
| Vancouver Canucks | +153 | Ov 6½ (+107) |
| Edmonton Oilers | -170 | Un 6½ (-118) |
| Chicago Blackhawks | +260 | Ov 6 (-105) |
| Colorado Avalanche | -295 | Un 6 (-105) |
Tampa and Vegas favored on opening night
Tampa Bay will raise their third championship banner and second in as many seasons before they host the Penguins on opening night. With Blake Coleman widely expected to leave in free agency this week, the Lightning will have to completely rebuild their third-line after already losing Yanni Gourde in the NHL Expansion Draft and trading Barclay Goodrow to the Rangers.
Pittsburgh lost gritty winger Brandon Tanev to Seattle, but it has been an otherwise quiet offseason for the club’s new general manager Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke. That could change as soon as free agency opens on Wednesday, however. The Pick: Lightning (-138 at BetOnline)
Winners and losers of the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, via @ByMikeBrehm: https://t.co/7ERy4czEo4
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) July 22, 2021
With a baffling lack of trades and side deals, Kraken GM Ron Francis came away from last week’s expansion draft with little other than cap space.
Unless they can weaponize it this week and land a star UFA such as Gabriel Landeskog or Dougie Hamilton, Seattle will not come close to replicating Vegas’ first season in the league when they went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. The Pick: Golden Knights (-271 at BetOnline)
Wednesday night’s slate
The New York Rangers should be a much tougher team to play against under the tutelage of new coach Gerard Gallant, making them a strong bet at +118 to get a road win against the Washington Capitals in the season opener. North of the border, Toronto (-183) will be out for revenge against a Canadiens (+165) team that came back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat them in the first round of the playoffs.
The Maple Leafs will be missing Zach Hyman, with the 29-year-old headed to join Connor McDavid in Edmonton after striking it rich in free agency. The Oilers (-170) are favored to take down the Canucks (+153), who made a big trade on draft day, acquiring Swedish defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and top-six winger Conor Garland.
Draft pick seals deal as Canucks add Ekman-Larsson, Garland.@PierreVLeBrun and @DarrenDreger have more: https://t.co/Czi6EpAOyl pic.twitter.com/lWZEN0B7Xu
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 24, 2021
Finally, the Avalanche are massive -295 favorites against the Blackhawks. Chicago GM Stan Bowman has had a busy offseason so far, waving goodbye to three-time Cup champ Duncan Keith on the blueline and replacing him with Seth Jones in a blockbuster trade that most believe the Blue Jackets got the better of.
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
