Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Thursday, April 2

Expert NHL picks & best bets for tonight’s games: Mammoth vs Kraken, Predators vs Kings. Get expert analysis, odds, parlays & betting promos!

April 2, 2026

Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Thursday, April 2

By:

Daniel Dobish

April 2, 2026

NHL Picks

NHL Best Bets & Picks: Mammoth vs Kraken, Predators vs Kings – Expert Game Previews

The National Hockey League (NHL) has a total of 14 games on the schedule Thursday night, including the Utah Mammoth and Seattle Kraken meeting at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and Hulu.

We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Thursday's MLB, NBA and NIT college basketball action. Good luck with all of your plays! Let's get started.

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For the latest NHL Odds, including NHL Futures and NHL player props, visit RotoWire's NHL Betting page. For up-to-date NHL player news and NHL Injury Report info, head to RotoWire's NHL Lineups page. You can find more picks at Bookies.com/picks. Here are our NHL Best Bets today, featuring expert NHL picks for an action-packed slate of games.

Utah Mammoth at Seattle Kraken

The Mammoth (38-30-6) and Kraken (32-30-11) meet at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle at 10:00 p.m. ET, and the game is available for viewing or streaming on ESPN+, as well as Hulu.

This is a huge game in the Western Conference playoff picture. Utah currently sits in the top wild-card spot with 82 points through 74 games, and the team is five points ahead of the Nashville Predators, who are in fifth place in the Central Division with 77 points.

Seattle has 75 points across 73 games, sitting in the 12th spot in the West. That sounds ominous, but the Los Angeles Kings currently occupy the eighth and final playoff spot, just three points ahead. It is a veritable logjam at the bottom of the wild-card standings, with eight teams still mathematically alive for the final playoff spot. Only the Vancouver Canucks (52 points) have been eliminated from the postseason.

Since the Utah Mammoth relocated from Arizona, the home team has won all five meetings in this series, including a pair of wins by Utah in Salt Lake City this season. The previous three meetings have been at Delta Center, with the Mammoth outscoring the Kraken 18-7, while the Over has gone 3-0 in each of those outings. This is the first meeting at Climate Pledge Arena since the Kraken won 4-2 on March 14, 2025.

When these teams last met, Nate Schmidt had himself a night, going for two goals and four points, while Clayton Keller chipped in with a pair of assists. Lawson Crouse was good for a goal and three points as well. For Seattle, Matty Beniers had a goal and a helper for the only multi-point performance for the Kraken.

While the home-team trend is strong in this series, recent play dictates Thursday's picks. Utah is a respectable 4-3-0 in the past seven games, while the Over has cashed in four consecutive matchups and has gone 6-2 in the past eight games. Seattle has struggled recently, going just 1-4-2 across the past seven matchups and 3-8-2 in the past 13 games since March 2. That's just eight points collected out of a possible 26 points. If Seattle misses the playoffs, it will look back to this period unfavorably.

We'll take the Mammoth to break the road trends, getting the job done. Let's also go with the Over, as Utah has hit high frequently, and Karel Vejmelka has been a little giving in net, while Joey Daccord has allowed four goals in each of his past two outings.

Mammoth ML (-135 at Bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel Sportsbooks)
Over 6 (-120 at Bet365, BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbooks)

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Nashville Predators at Los Angeles Kings

The Predators (34-31-9) and Kings (30-26-18) meet at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

This is a gigantic game that could impact that logjam at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff race.

The Predators have 77 points through 74 games, while the Kings precariously hold the eighth spot with 78 points, also through 74 games. However, the San Jose Sharks, in action against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, have 77 points through 73 games, so they have a game in hand. The Kraken, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues and others are also in the mix.

Predators and Kings have met just once this season, but they'll also see each other in Los Angeles on Monday. The Predators meet the Sharks in San Jose on Saturday, as well as April 13, while facing Utah on April 9. The playoff logjam is going to be fixed, and fixed rather quickly.

Nashville has picked a poor time for a power outage, scoring just five total goals (1.7 goals per game) in a three-game losing streak. It has allowed 3.5 GPG in the past four matchups as well. However, the Under is 6-1 in the past seven games, which is nice for total bettors.

Los Angeles outlasted St. Louis 2-1 in overtime in a key wild-card battle Wednesday, and it is 3-3-2 in the past eight games and 5-4-3 in the previous 12 matchups. The Kings could have really solidified their standing with wins in those overtime or shootout games, but they're still in pretty good shape.

The Predators are just 14-16-6 on the road, while the Kings are only 11-17-8 at home, so something has to give. We'll take the Kings, despite their poor home mark, as the Predators just haven't been able to score goals lately. We'll also go low on the total, as Los Angeles has cashed the Under in three of the past four games.