For a forlorn portion of the league, the NHL stretch run is the season of small victories, as they dream of better days to come.
Take the Calgary Flames, for example. On Wednesday night, the Flames thrashed the front-running Anaheim Ducks 7–2 in front of the Calgary faithful, spurred on by a pair of goals from Mikael Backlund and Corban Knight’s first big-league tally. It could be argued anything that hampers a rebuilding team’s chances of drafting as high as possible is a negative, but we’re willing to bet—for one night, anyway—Flames fans can put their arms around a blowout win in which the kids shone.
But of their fellow bottom-feeders, where do the Flames stand in terms of their chances to be significantly better at this time next year? Five clubs—Calgary, Edmonton, Florida, Buffalo and the New York Islanders—currently have fewer than 60 points. Some of them figure to be in the same situation 12 months from now, while others can expect a bump.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the NHL’s worst five clubs, ranked in order of the likelihood they’ll be pushing for a post-season spot at this time in 2015.
1) New York Islanders: The only member of this group that was a playoff team in 2013, the Isles likely thought their days of drafting in the top five were done. The Islanders head this dubious class only because we can’t believe they’ll go another summer without upgrading their goaltending. Last off-season, two great young puckstoppers—Cory Schneider and Jonathan Bernier—switched clubs and either one would have fit beautifully on Long Island, where the Isles have given up more goals per game than any club in the NHL. If similar goalies become available this summer, the Isles better jump. With an MVP-calibre player in John Tavares and young centre Ryan Strome coming up, the team still has something to work with.
2) Florida Panthers: Speaking of goaltending, how great are the Florida Panthers going to feel heading into training camp next year with Roberto Luongo entrenched as the team’s No. 1? Probably the best they’ve felt since Luongo was their starter heading into the 2005–06 campaign. With Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjugstad at centre, the Cats will have a pair of sizable sophomores down the middle next year. Blueline help should be an off-season priority.
3) Edmonton Oilers: It’s become painfully clear the Oilers need to do more than wait for their current crop of youngsters to blossom. While Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth will improve the state of the team’s goaltending, Edmonton still needs help everywhere else and should be looking to make at least one significant deal this summer to help plug the holes.
4) Calgary Flames: Being bad next year will be a good thing for Calgary, especially with a talent-rich draft coming in 2015. The Flames figure to lean even harder on the kids in 2014–15, as Mike Cammalleri is almost certain to leave as an unrestricted free agent. So while the organization—which still needs to hire a GM—won’t turn any big corners next season, another high pick in 2015 will improve the team’s long-range prospects for playoff success.
5) Buffalo Sabres: A staggering stockpile of draft picks means a tidal wave of young talent is set to flood this organization in coming years. The problem for Buffalo is, right now, the only up-and-comer on the roster who is really delighting Western New York is Zemgus Girgensons. Cody Hodgson is 24 now and, while he obviously doesn’t have a lot of talent around him to work with, it looks increasingly unlikely he’ll evolve into a front-line point-producer.