The Flyers danced with playoff contention in the final throes of last season but almost certainly won't this year. Betting on them would take real desperation.

The Flames are the first team on the list to occupy a playoff spot (entering Tuesday's games), but it's a long way from qualifying for the tournament to winning it.

GM Doug Armstrong made head-turning offer sheet moves last summer, and Jordan Binnington helped win the 4 Nations. Outside of that, though, it's pretty irrelevant.

Utah joins the Blues within striking distance after a season in which the goaltending has been pretty good (15th in the league), but the offense has not (19th).

Offloading Nelson for players and picks at the deadline seems a sign of surrender for the Islanders, who reached Tuesday four points off the Eastern cut line.

There was no more active seller at the deadline than the Bruins, whose run of eight straight trips to the playoffs seems in jeopardy in preparation for a rebuild.

A 16-game run through the spring seems completely unlikely, but it'd be hard not to root for the Blue Jackets to at least qualify given the resilience they've shown.

"Hockeytown" could just as easily be called "Stevietown," but a 3-6-1 run over their last 10 games has to be creating some discomfort for GM Steve Yzerman.