The Winnipeg Jets officially secured their spot in the postseason with a win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.

It's the second straight year the Jets have qualified for the playoffs, and the fourth time they've done so in franchise history.

Winnipeg became the third Western Conference club to book a berth this season, joining the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks.

Moments after the Jets clinched, the Boston Bruins became the fifth NHL team to officially earn a spot with their win over the Florida Panthers.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have already locked down the Presidents' Trophy and the top seed in the playoffs.

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If all goes well for Ken Hitchcock, he'd like to stay in his line of work until he's nearly a centenarian.

"For the record, I feel if I'm good, I can coach until I'm 99," the Edmonton Oilers bench boss told reporters after an overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

When asked about whether he wants to coach the Oilers next season, the 67-year-old acknowledged that decision is out of his hands.

"That's hard because it's somebody else's ballgame now," Hitchcock said. "From a management standpoint, obviously there's going to be a new general manager. I can just tell you what I did this year, I wouldn't change this for the world."

Hitchcock said he's grateful to have the opportunity to work in a Canadian market.

"There's coaching and then there's coaching in Canada, and this is a whole different animal and something that I'm so lucky that I get to experience," he said.

Hitchcock is under contract with Edmonton for two more years after this season.

The Oilers have gone 24-24-7 since Hitchcock came out of retirement and replaced the fired Todd McLellan in November. The club sits six points out of a playoff spot as of Saturday evening and needs to leapfrog five teams to move into a postseason position.

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Tobias Rieder's representative is not pleased with Bob Nicholson.

Darren Ferris expressed as much on Thursday night, hours after the Edmonton Oilers CEO criticized Rieder at a breakfast for season-ticket holders.

“I am totally astonished and disappointed that the president of an NHL team can make such a callous and reckless statement about a player," Ferris told TSN's Ryan Rishaug. "This is unacceptable.”

Nicholson apologized to Rieder, according to TSN's Darren Dreger, and later told Sportsnet's Mark Spector he "screwed up."

The executive told fans that the Oilers would probably be a playoff team if Rieder had 10-to-12 goals, and that the 26-year-old winger won't be re-signed for next season.

Oilers head coach Ken Hitchcock had Rieder's back after Thursday's victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Rieder has no goals and 11 points in 60 games this season. The Oilers signed him to a one-year, $2-million deal on July 1.

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Alexander Steen and his father, Thomas, joined some elite company Thursday night.

The St. Louis Blues forward picked up three assists in a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings, and his second was the 600th point of his career.

With that helper, the Steens became only the fourth father-son tandem to each hit the 600-point plateau in their careers, joining Gordie and Mark Howe, Bobby and Brett Hull, and Peter and Paul Stastny, according to NHL.com's Lou Korac.

Thomas Steen racked up 817 points in 950 games across 14 NHL seasons with the original Winnipeg Jets from 1981-82 to 1994-95.

Alex Steen has 601 in 955 contests over 14 campaigns spent with the Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs.

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Yanni Gourde's night ended early Thursday after his high hit on Jordan Staal.

The Tampa Bay Lightning center was assessed a match penalty and a five-minute major after catching the Carolina Hurricanes pivot in the head in the first period.

Staal left immediately for the dressing room after the hit but returned to the bench for the second period.

The 30-year-old missed 32 games earlier in the season due to concussions.

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Eugene Melnyk wants to know who really supports the Ottawa Senators as criticism of him and his hockey club continues to dominate headlines.

The team owner wondered aloud Thursday who the true Senators are when asked how he plans to win back fans who've lost faith in the ownership group.

"The key for us is, first of all, to identify who's a Senators fan and (who's) not," Melnyk said on Sportsnet 590 The FAN.

"We tripped up one of these guys, somebody big, and it turns out it was a 12-year-old in Toronto that was upset with the Senators in general," he added. "I'm a high-profile person that's an easy target, so let them do what they want to do. I basically ignore 99 percent of it."

Melnyk said the organization is trying to turn things around for those who remain patient with the team.

"For our fans, our real fans, we're doing the best we can and all you can do is just keep doing what you've been doing," he said.

The Senators have traded away Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel within the last six months and have also suffered from various off-ice scandals.

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Bob Nicholson has found his scapegoat.

The Edmonton Oilers CEO criticized Tobias Rieder at length at a breakfast for season-ticket holders Thursday, according to the Edmonton Journal's Bruce McCurdy.

Nicholson said the Oilers won't re-sign Rieder at season's end, lamented that he hasn't scored a goal with the club and has "missed so many breakaways," and added that if the struggling forward "would have scored 10 or 12 goals, we'd probably be in the playoffs."

The executive said that other teams wanted Rieder in free agency last summer, but the 26-year-old signed with the Oilers for one year because he wanted to play with fellow German national Leon Draisaitl.

"He thought if he wasn't playing with Leon, he'd be playing with Connor (McDavid), he'd score 15-16 goals, and instead of making $2 million, he'd sign a four-year (extension) at $3.5 million (annually)," Nicholson said.

The Oilers CEO opened his remarks at the breakfast by saying he wouldn't throw anyone under the bus, according to McCurdy.

Nicholson later apologized to Rieder and admitted he "stepped out of bounds," according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

Rieder has 11 assists in 59 games with the Oilers this season. He signed with Edmonton last July 1 after mustering 12 goals and 13 assists in 78 contests split between the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings in 2017-18.

The Oilers entered Thursday's action with a minus-38 goal differential and sit seven points out of a Western Conference wild-card spot.

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The Detroit Red Wings are expected to announce a one-year extension in the $4-million range for Jimmy Howard this week, reports Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.

If Howard plays well next season, he'll earn another one-year extension after that, adds St. James. He's a pending unrestricted free agent in the final campaign of a six-year, $31.75-million pact inked with the Red Wings in 2013.

Howard, who turns 35 next week, has recorded a .907 save percentage in 47 appearances in 2018-19.

He's spent his entire career with Detroit after the Red Wings selected him 64th overall in the 2003 draft.

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The idle San Jose Sharks clinched a postseason spot when the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

San Jose became the third team to secure a playoff berth, following the Tampa Bay Lightning and Calgary Flames.

It'll be the fourth straight season the Sharks have qualified for the playoffs, and the 19th time in their last 21 campaigns.

San Jose sits in second place in the Pacific Division with a record of 43-22-8.

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North Bay Battalion scoring sensation Justin Brazeau is on the radar of numerous NHL clubs.

"He's undrafted, so he is drawing NHL attention (with) at least five-to-seven teams in the mix," TSN's Darren Dreger reported on Tuesday's edition of "Insider Trading."

Dreger added the Toronto Maple Leafs have expressed some interest, and the Boston Bruins, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, and Columbus Blue Jackets are all intrigued by Brazeau.

The 21-year-old winger amassed 61 goals and 113 points in 68 OHL regular-season games in 2018-19.

Brazeau and the Battalion will face the Niagara IceDogs in the first round of the playoffs beginning with Game 1 on Thursday night.

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