The games that are played one day removed from the trade deadline are always tough to bet on because of all the player movement. Two of the teams in this article were bonafide sellers, while the other two are continuing to compete for playoff seeding. Both games are on the late slate and will close off the March 22, 2022, games in the NHL.
Moneyline: Arizona Coyotes (-120) vs Seattle Kraken (+100)
There have been some notable moves from both of these teams during the trade deadline with both teams shipping way players. The Arizona Coyotes have the edge as they are the home team in this game with a 9-21-1 record on home ice. They enter the game on a two-game losing streak but have been getting solid contributions from different sources. The team shipped away goaltender Scott Wedgewood leaving Karel Vejmelka and his 10-23-1 record as the team’s starter moving forward for the remainder of the season.
Lawson Crouse hit the 20-goal mark in the team’s last game while adding an assist to give him 24 points through 61 games played. Crouse is rolling with seven points in his last four games and seeing minutes in the mid to high teens.
Like the Coyotes, the Kraken also had a fire sale and will be without several players, including Mark Giordano, Mason Appleton, Colin Blackwell, Marcus Johansson, and Jeremy Lauzon, who were all traded prior to the deadline. These are significant pieces that the team will need to find replacements for and will need to use younger and less experienced players to do so. Considering this will be Seattle’s first game after an active trade deadline with lots of roster turnover, the Coyotes at home should be able to get the job done.
Moneyline: Los Angeles Kings (-120) vs Nashville Predators (+100)
The Predators are rolling and looking to move into the Central Division playoff spot from their current wild-card position. The Predators added some defensive depth in Jeremy Lauzon in a trade with Seattle and have been a good away team with a 17-11-4 record. Juuse Saros will likely get the night off with David Rittich getting the nod on the second night of a back-to-back set after picking up a win against the Anaheim Ducks.
Roman Josi is Nashville’s scoring leader but Matt Duchene and Filip Forsberg are doing all the heavy lifting on offense from the forwards. Duchene is riding a 10-game point streak, while Forsberg extended his to seven games. Both players put up a combined eight points in their last game against the Anaheim Ducks and have already surpassed the 30-goal mark this season.
With the Kings still banged up at forward and even more so on their blue line, they’ll be in tough against an energetic and hungry Nashville team. There is an opportunity to get some value with the Predators on the away side who have scored more than four goals in each of their last seven games.
Odds via Yahoo and BetMGM.
