Vegas Golden Knights at Los Angeles Kings 10/11/22 - NHL Picks & Predictions

The Vegas Golden Knights visit Southern California on Tuesday to play the Los Angeles Kings in the opening game of the NHL regular season for both. Vegas finished fourth in the Pacific Division last season at 43-31-8. Vegas no longer has players such as Max Pacioretty and Evgeni Dadonov but signed veteran Phil Kessel to offset the loss of the two scorers. Goalie Robin Lehner will miss all of the 2022-23 following hip surgery.

Las Vegas acquired goalie Adin Hill and veteran backup netminder Michael Hutchinson to fill the void left by Lehner. Vegas will be led on attack  by Jack Eichel and Mark Stone, while Bruce Cassidy is expected to add much-needed scoring for the team as is Kessel. Expect to see plenty of ice time from William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson amongst others.

The Los Angeles Kings will be a mix of veterans that surround a very talented group of young stars. Last season, Los Angeles was 44-27-11 and finished third in the Pacific Division. The Kings were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Edmonton. During the off-season, Los Angeles acquired Kevin Fiala to help the Kings with scoring as last season the 26-year old had 33 goals and 52 assists for a career-high 85 points. Last season's leading goal scorer Adrian Kempe, who scored 35 goals, is also back for the Kings.

Los Angeles will also look to young talent such as 20-year old Quinton Byfield, 21-year old Arthur Kaliyev and 22-year old Rasmus Kupari. Byfield was selected No. 2 overall in the 2020 draft and has the most star potential of the three. Mixing in with the youth will be defenseman Drew Doughty, goalie Jonathan Quick and Anze Kopital, who are all 32 years of age or older. Alex Turcotte is not expected to start the season with Los Angeles but at some point is expected to be called up from the minors and give Los Angeles plenty of scoring ability.