Game 1 Days Announced and Draft Lottery Odds – April 16th

Saturday, April 18 – Game 1, with Networks

3 p.m. ET, Ottawa Senators at Carolina Hurricanes; ESPN, SN, TVAS

5:30 p.m. ET, Minnesota Wild at Dallas Stars; ESPN, SN, TVAS

8 p.m. ET, Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins; ESPN, SN, TVAS

Sunday, April 19 – Game 1

Time/TV TBD, +Western Conference Wild Card #2 at Colorado Avalanche

Time/TV TBD, Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning

Time/TV TBD, Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres

Time/TV TBD, Utah Mammoth at Vegas Golden Knights

Monday, April 20 – Game 1

Time/TV TBD, +Pacific Division #3 at +Pacific Division #2

+ The final two matchups for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs will be decided tonight with the Edmonton Oilers (91 points), Anaheim Ducks (90 points) and Los Angeles Kings (91 points) all in action.

Connor Bedard Will Need a Big, New Contract This Offseason

The odds of winning the draft lottery as of April 16th

We had to restart our X account. Please follow @MyNHLRumorsX

Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumor roundups and hot topics from around the league. We’re also posting some stuff on Instagram.

If you love our reporting, choose NHLrumors.com as a preferred source on Google.