After a long offseason, the moment Vegas Golden Knights fans have waited for finally arrives on Wednesday as Mitch Marner makes his regular-season debut for his new franchise. He and the rest of the roster host their first home game of the 2025-26 campaign against the Los Angeles Kings, who began their own season with a tough loss last night. This Pacific Division clash brings plenty of intrigue, so strap in and get ready for pucks (and potentially fists) to fly.
Here’s a Golden Knights vs. Kings prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Wednesday night’s medieval matchup.
Golden Knights vs. Kings prediction, preview
Viva, Las Vegas. The Golden Knights are a yearly postseason contender but now see their title odds take another step this season thanks to the addition of former Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner. The talented winger comes off a career-best 102-point campaign which saw him score 27 goals and dish out a staggering 75 assists. He now joins a first line alongside franchise player Jack Eichel to form one of the most formidable duos in the NHL, but the depth also provides plenty behind the pair. Mark Stone and a healthy Wiliam Karlsson anchor the second-line forwards while Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev form one of the league’s best third-line combos. These guys are going to score often this year assuming a clean slate of health for the stars, and Marner’s addition remains huge not only for 5-on-5 but also the power play, which was already one of the NHL’s best last season. It feels like a world-beater combination.
The blue line doesn’t remain as talent-packed, especially with Alex Pietrangelo landing on LTIR as a potential medical retirement looms. However, Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb are a very good first pairing while Noah Hanifin and Zach Whitecloud fill out the second. However, the third defensive pair raises more questions as to consistency, and the goaltender situation with Adin Hill and Akira Schmid also brings up some concerns. Still, the top half of this roster looks as good as any other team’s, so they’re sure to challenge in the Western Conference.
The Kings’ season actually began last night at home against the Colorado Avalanche, but things quickly took a turn for the worse in the opener. Los Angeles played it close with a scoreless first period on both sides but conceded three goals in the second, with one more tacked on in the third. It was far from an encouraging debut, especially for goaltender Darcy Kuemper. After a Vezina-caliber campaign last year, he showed signs of his old self with 19 saves on 23 attempts, just an .826% SV%. Now, the matchup against MacKinnon and Makar challenges any goaltender, but tonight’s outing doesn’t feel much easier. The Kings’ offense managed a respectable 25 shots but will need to up the pace tonight to hang around. They have the talent to do so with Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala, Anze Kopitar and Quinton Byfield, the latter of whom did look excellent in the season debut.
The blue line did struggle mightily after the first period though as they seemed gassed and failed to keep up with the speed the Avs deployed. Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson headlined the blue line followed by the pairing of Brandt Clarke and Joel Edmundson. However, the third pairing of Cody Cedi and Brian Dumoulin just didn’t look great to start, though that’s not entirely shocking given Ceci’s inconsistencies.
Golden Knights vs. Kings pick, best bet
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Golden Knights enter as -205 home favorites on Wednesday night. The Kings are +170 Moneyline underdogs with the total set at 5.5 goals.
The Kings played a physical brand of defensive hockey last season and a fantastic campaign from Kuemper only made life easier. However, his first game of the new year didn’t spark much hope and tonight’s matchup appears just as difficult as the last. Add in a raucous environment at Vegas’ barn and suddenly the odds make sense in this one. The Golden Knights’ talent pool is just deeper than their opponents’, plus they have the two best players on the ice in Eichel and Marner. The chemistry between that pairing may take some time to truly develop, but it’s hard to pick against them against a Kings team on the second leg of a back-to-back which didn’t show much fight last night.
Watch for Vegas to start the Marner era in strong form by covering the puck line tonight to win by at least two goals at home.
