[stemit14]

Looking at the current standings, I think Calgary’s only path to a playoff spot at this point is the final wild card spot. Of course, there’s lots of the season left to play and things can shift a lot but there are pretty decent gaps forming right now and teams that were supposed to be good are playing more like they should have (Colorado for example).

There are 4 teams currently battling for that final wild card spot: Vancouver, Calgary, St. Louis and Utah. Vancouver currently holds the playoff spot but the range is this:

Vancouver: 38 GP; 44 PTS; 0.579 P%
Calgary: 39 GP; 43 PTS; 0.551 P%
St. Louis: 41 GP; 42 PTS; 0.512 P%
Utah: 39 GP; 41 PTS; 0.526 P%

I think Vancouver, if they are healthy and if their dressing room drama is sorted out is probably the best of those four teams and should have the inside track on that last playoff spot. But neither of those things have been true for the Canucks this season so far. If their team gets healthy early in the 2nd half of the season and their drama is sorted out, they likely claim that last playoff spot. If not, it’s a toss up between all 4 teams. They are pretty even teams in that case.

I will add that, of those 4 teams, Calgary is the only one that I think could trade away a significant piece (Andersson) this season that could drop them out of the race. Vancouver could trade Pettersson or Miller but it would likely be a hockey trade where they plan on it not hurting their current season. Utah and St. Louis don’t have much to trade away at the deadline - Utah only has young players in their core that are part of their long term plans and it’s a similar case with St. Louis. Calgary, on the other hand, could trade a core piece like Andersson this year for a future-oriented return (young players + picks) that makes Calgary a worse team this season.

In my opinion, the flames playoff chances sit at 25% at best if Vancouver continues to struggle with injuries and dressing room drama and if the flames don’t trade Andersson this season.