NHL playoff watch: What's at stake in 11-game Super Saturday? - ESPN

During the course of the NHL regular season, certain days of the week get loaded up with a heavy schedule of games. Typically, that's Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

This Saturday is the first of the NHL's final four Saturdays in the 2025-26 season, and sure enough, there are 11 games on the docket. The slate begins with Winnipeg Jets at Pittsburgh Penguins at 1 p.m. ET and rolls through Tampa Bay Lightning-Edmonton Oilers, which starts at 10 p.m. ET.

There is still time left for teams to make moves into (or out of) playoff contention, and the draft lottery standings are also far from set — aside from the Vancouver Canucks, who appear destined to have the best lottery odds.

Here's what's at stake in each of the 11 games on Super Saturday:

Winnipeg Jets at Pittsburgh Penguins
1 p.m. (NHL Network)

These two teams seem to have swapped identities from last season to this one; the Jets won the Presidents' Trophy as the top regular-season team in 2024-25 but enter Saturday five points back of the second Western wild card. Winnipeg is sixth in the draft lottery standings now. The Penguins, who finished 11 points out of a wild-card spot last season, are second in the Metro Division, 10 points back of the Carolina Hurricanes. Aside from chasing the Canes, the Penguins need to hold off the hard-charging Blue Jackets and Islanders, both of whom are a point behind.

Vegas Golden Knights at Nashville Predators
2 p.m. (ESPN+)

The Golden Knights have a reasonably strong hold on a Pacific Division playoff spot, with a four-point edge on the Kings behind them. But given the parity in that division, they are also just four points behind the Anaheim Ducks for the Pacific lead. Meanwhile, the Preds are right in the mix for the second wild