As the NHL starts the 2024-25 season, the puck drops with the first full night of Pacific Division action, as six of the division’s eight teams are set to take the ice tonight. The only match between two teams yet to suit up this season is the 10:10 p.m. ET clash between the Anaheim Ducks and the Seattle Kraken, who were separated by just four points last season. I’d expect Climate Pledge Arena to be packed for the aquatic-themed matchup.
Seattle is a -130 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the over-under set to 5.5 goals, and Anaheim is +110 on the Moneyline. Below, I’ll break down this clash and offer a prediction.
Kraken vs. Ducks prediction, preview
Last season, these teams finished sixth and seventh in the division, with the Ducks posting a 35-37-10 record and the Kraken going 35-41-6. Seattle did have a more potent front line, scoring 247 goals to Anaheim’s 221, but it also let in two more goals and posted just a .500 record in home games. The last time the Kraken made the postseason was 2021-22, in their second season of existence, while the Ducks haven’t made it since 2017-18. This season, Anaheim has +270 odds to make the playoffs, while Seattle’s are +550.
The Ducks had a fairly active offseason in the hopes of finally breaking their playoff drought. They fired coach Greg Cronin, who had gone 62-87-15 in his two seasons with the team, and hired veteran Joel Quenneville, the second-winningest head coach in NHL history. Anaheim also traded away centers Trevor Zegras and Carey Terrance and acquired Czech goalkeeper Petr Mrázek, who started 38 games last season between stints with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings and has a 90.6% career save percentage.
The Kraken are also entering their first season with a new head coach after dismissing Dan Bylsma at the end of last season after just one season with the team, bringing in Lane Lambert to replace him. Seattle also made a flurry of potentially impactful moves, acquiring Mason Marchment from the Dallas Stars and Frédérick Gaudreau from the Minnesota Wild to bolster a front line that already scored the most goals among Western Conference teams not to make the playoffs in 2024-25. They also re-signed several defenders after allowing the fourth-most goals in the West but otherwise did little to bolster the back.
Kraken vs. Ducks pick, best bet
The Ducks’ aggression could pay off, and Quenneville is exactly the sort of head coach that could help bring the most out of some of the squad’s talented youngsters. 20-year-old Leo Carlsson improved dramatically in his first two seasons, accounting for 29 points in 55 games in 2023-24 and 45 points in 76 games in 2024-25. Cutter Gauthier just finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting after recording 20 goals and 24 assists and appearing in every game, so he should only be getting better.
Adding Mrázek should provide depth at the goalkeeper position when John Gibson and Lukáš Dostál are unable to go, and getting Jacob Trouba for a full season after acquiring him midway through the 2024-25 campaign should help Anaheim find more stability in defense. The Ducks also have 2024 third overall pick Beckett Sennecke waiting in the wings, coming off of a season in which he had 86 points in 56 games for the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals. Anaheim’s rebuilding project could finally deliver real results this season.
Of course, the Kraken have some young players, too: 2024 eighth overall pick Berkly Catton just finished third in the Western Hockey league with 109 points in 57 games. However, their established young talent isn’t quite to as good as the duo of Carlsson and Gauthier, given that no Seattle player received any awards consideration last season. Matty Beniers, the 2022-23 Calder Award winner, has stagnated across his last two seasons, and Ryan Winterton and Jani Nyman have yet to take huge leaps. The Kraken will have to hope Shane Wright continues his breakout in the front line and that defenders Vince Dunn and Josh Mahura can stay healthy.
The last two times these teams faced each other at Climate Pledge Arena, the Ducks emerged victorious, though Seattle did sweep the season series as recently as 2023-24. Plus, while Anaheim opens the season with just two injured players, the Kraken have five, including defender Ryker Evans, who ranked third on the team in blocks last season. Neither of the Ducks’ injured players averaged more than 17 minutes of ice time per game in 2024-25.
