We bounced back last week with a clean sweep of our gold, silver, and bronze plays and we're looking to continue to pad the pocket book and take down today's 12-game NHL betting board with more winners. A couple of games that immediately jump off the page as must-watch feature two all-Canadian matchups between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs and out west with the Winnipeg Jets visiting the Edmonton Oilers. We'll dive a little deeper into both of those below while also serving up the rest of our favourite picks for Saturday's action. As always, good luck and let's get this paper.

Updated 2025-26 Saturday Record (Daily Record Tracked/Posted @Flips_Picks):

Gold: 3-3
Silver: 3-3
Bronze: 5-1
Side Bets: 5-12

*

Gold Selection
Minnesota Wild @ Vancouver Canucks – Pick: Wild ML (-142)

We'll get to the other end of the Central Division spectrum in the section below when we discuss the tailspinning Jets, but our gold breakdown focuses on one of the hottest teams in the league right now in the Minnesota Wild. On the backs of sensational goaltending from Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson, this Wild group finds itself ascending the Western Conference standings with wins in eight of their last 10. Gus the Bus and The Wall of St. Paul have been nothing short of lights out, especially lately with Wallstedt who is rocking the best goals-against average (1.74) and save percentage (.944) in the league to go along with the high mark of shutouts at four. Regardless of who's in net and despite two losses in their previous three overall, Minnesota is still looking like a dangerous and confident club that should be in the mix for the top three spots in the division all season long with a balanced top-nine forward group that obviously features the two-headed offensive monster that is Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy.

As for Vancouver? Well, aside from the news that nearly the entire roster is on the block, things aren't exactly pretty for this Canucks group, as only one win in their last seven games has them trending toward a firesale instead of postseason hockey. No disrespect due to anyone in the Canucks franchise, but this team is a joke and it's seemingly going to get a lot worse before it gets any better, which is somewhat scary considering they are already working with a league low 24 points heading into Friday's action. At that same time, Vancouver is tied for the NHL high in goals allowed with 98 and they sit in the bottom-third in goals with only 78, so clearly something has to give when they can't get it done at either end of the ice. Sprinkle in the fact they are on the second night of a back-to-back and that the Wild are 8-1-1 in the last 10 against Vancouver and this is an excellent spot to back the much hotter team on the moneyline for our gold pick of the week.

Silver Selection
Winnipeg Jets @ Edmonton Oilers – Pick: Connor McDavid 2+ Points

Even the most casual NHL fans know how good Connor Hellebuyck is, but one man can't carry an entire team … Can he? Since Hellebuyck bowed out with injury back in mid-November, Winnipeg has looked like a completely different squad, as the Jets have reeled off an ugly 2-5-1 record while falling out of the Western Conference playoff picture. In Hellebuyck's absence, career backup Eric Comrie has been going through it, rocking a 2-4-1 record and .891 SV% while looking completely lost at times.

Enter the Edmonton Oilers who have been far from a juggernaut themselves this season. However, their massive nine-goal showing on Thursday night in a victory over the Seattle Kraken could be that galvanizing-type turning point moment that really lights a fire under Edmonton's big guns. Specifically, the best player on the planet in Connor McDavid, who just scorched the Kraken with his 13th career hat trick who will be looking to improve on his sensational career numbers against the Jets. In 35 regular-season games since entering the league in 2015, McJesus flaunts 12 goals and 47 assists and with the Jets looking like a shell of their former selves on the second night of a back-to-back with either the shaky Comrie or unproven rookie Thomas Milic in the cage, it's go-time for No. 97.

Bronze Selection
Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs – Pick: Auston Matthews Anytime Goal

Another week of picks, another week of taking a look at how to make some money off this Toronto Maple Leafs situation. This isn't exactly a hot take or rocket science-level stuff: Toronto will go as far as Auston Matthews carries it. Plain and simple, No. 34 goes and so do the Maple Leafs. Toronto is slowly getting bodies back in the lineup and even though it looks like it could be Dennis Hildeby's cage for the next few games with Joseph Woll leaving Thursday's tilt (and win) against the Carolina Hurricanes, Craig Berube is finally pushing the right buttons with his team and they have responded with three consecutive wins.

There's no sugarcoating that Toronto has been struggling, especially in keeping pucks out of its own net, but this is a group that brings elite offensive production, especially with Matthews as the driving force. Even with their power-play sputtering at a 14.7% clip, when Matthews is on the ice the opposition needs to be concerned, especially the Montreal Canadiens who have been absolutely lit up by Papi over the course of his career. Matthews owns 29 goals and 18 assists in only 38 regular-season games. With Montreal dropping six of 10, expect the Leafs' captain to be firing on all cylinders tonight.

Side Bets
Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs – Pick: Maple Leafs ML (-142)
Utah Mammoth @ Calgary Flames – Pick: Mammoth ML (+100)
Winnipeg Jets @ Edmonton Oilers – Pick: Oilers ML (-210)

Flip Livingstone is an NHL betting expert, fantasy writer, and daily podcast host with the Locked On Fantasy Hockey pod. He also has experience at outlets such as theScore NHL, Postmedia, and Hockey Night in Canada. You can follow him @Flips_Picks.