Connor Bedard makes his NHL debut as the Chicago Blackhawks face the Pittsburgh Penguins. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Blackhawks-Penguins prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

Last year, the Blackhawks were the worst team in the Central Division and the third-worst team in the NHL. It was a 26-49-7 season for the Blackhawks, coming away with just 59 points. Still, even with the bad season, some good may have come from it. The Blackhawks landed Connor Bedard in the NHL Entry Draft. They then acquired Nick Foligno and Taylor Hall to join him. Corey Perry came from the Lightning and Ryan Donato was signed from the Kraken.  The Blackhawks also return Andres Athanasiou and Taylor Raddysh. The Blackhawks now have a mix of your and exciting talent, with some veteran leadership looking to make a step back toward the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Penguins come in off missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006. They finished just two points out of a playoff spot as they look to return to the playoffs this year. They still bring back Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang. The problem is this is an aging core, and the Penguins had a lot of holes to fill. The first was in goal. Tristan Jarry was solid last year. He has a 2.90 goals-against average with a .909 save percentage. He also missed a bunch of time in the middle of the season. They bring In Alex Nedeljkovic.

Last year in Detroit, he was solid and has been a primary goaltender in the NHL before. The Penguins also added Erik Karlsson, Reilly Smith, and Lars Eller. Karlsson scored 101 points last year with 25 goals, while Smith comes in after hoisting the cup last year for Vegas and scored 56 points.

Here are the NHL Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

NHL Odds: Blackhawks vs. Penguins Odds

Chicago Blackhawks: +1.5 (-120)

Pittsburgh Penguins: -1.5 (+100)

Over: 6.5 (-120)

Under: 6.5 (-102)

How to Watch Blackhawks vs. Penguins

Time: 8:00 PM ET/ 5:00 PM PT

TV: ESPN/ESPN+

Stream: FuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Blackhawks Will Cover the Spread

Petr Mrazek returns to mind the net in Chicago. He was 10-22-3 last year with a 3.66 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage. Mrazek was solid in many games last year, but the defense let him down often, especially on the penalty kill. Chicago was one of the worthy in the NHL last year dealing with being a man down. They had just a 76.2 percent penalty kill rate, and many of the goals against Mrazek came when they were man-down. 2022 first-round pick Kevin Korchinski looks to help improve the overall defense this year, as he will be making his debut this season as well. Rookie Alex Vlasic will join the young defensive core in aiming to make improvements to the defense as well.

All eyes tonight will be on Connor Bedard though. He scored a goal and had four assists in preseason play. Still, being a rookie making his NHL debut is difficult, and he will need support around him. Taylor Hall comes in to be that support. That year he scored 16 goals for the Bruins while having 36 total points. Still, Hall has played just one season of over 65 games in 2017-18. That was the 2021-22 season in which he had 61 points. Ryan Donato will join them on the top line after spending last year in Seattle. He has 27 points last year for the Kraken in 71 games.

Meanwhile, the next two lines will be anchored by Taylor Raddysh and Andres Athanasiou. Raddysh scored 20 goals and had 17 assists last season. He became a primary option in the last month of the season, having three or more shots in over half of his games in the last month of play. Athanasiou had 20 goals and 20 assists last year and also came on at the end of last year. In April, he played in seven games, having five goals and six assists.

Why The Penguins Will Cover the Spread

It will most likely be Tristan Jarry in goal for the Penguins tonight. Jarry was 24-13-7 last year with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. He saw in front of him a middle-of-the-pack penalty kill unit. They killed 79.1 percent of penalties last year. Jarry was also solid in shorthanded situations and will look to continue that tonight.

On defense, he has a solid combination in front of him. Ryan Graves and Kris Letang anchor the first defensive pairing, while Marcus Pettersson and Erik Karlsson come in for the second group. Letang can push the ice, having 41 points last year, and was solid on defense. Still, he was -13 last year in plus/minus. Graves comes in from New Jersey, and while he does not have the same point producing Prowell, he is a quality defender. He has a plus/minus of +34 last year. Karlsson is a major scoring threat, putting up over 100 points last season. Still, his pushing up ice cost him at times, with a -26 rating. To counter that, they partner him with Marcus Pettersson, who is a stay-at-home defender and was +24. That gives both pairings a solid guy to back up the play and one to push the ice.

The Penguins also came back with Sidney Crosby. Evgeni Malkin, and Jake Guentzel.  Guentzel may be out tonight, as he is still day-to-day with an injury. Still, if he plays, he is a solid wing threat with Crosby on the front line. He scored 36 times last year and had 73 points. Meanwhile, Crosby continues to play solid. He scored 93 points last year, with 27 of them on the power play. The major power play threat is Malkin. He scored 36 of his 83 points on the power play last season.

Final Blackhawks-Penguins Prediction & Pick

While it is exciting to see Connor Bedard take to the ice for his first regular season game, Chicago has struggled a lot in the recent past. They did do a lot of re-tooling this year and will be better, but it will not be enough to win on a nightly basis. Pittsburgh is hoping to be a playoff team once again. They added some key parts, and have the better goaltender in this one. Take the Penguins to cover.

Final Blackhawks-Penguins Prediction & Pick: Penguin -1.5 (+100)