We’re entering the stretch drive of the NHL regular season, and about a third of the league’s teams are already playing mostly meaningless games. Some of these fan bases are actively rooting for losses, so their teams have the best possible draft lottery odds of landing the No. 1 pick.

By our count, 10 teams look like potential tankers (we’re not including the Kings, despite them being slightly behind the Panthers in the standings, because they’re still alive in the West playoff race and are more likely to win games down the stretch).

Here’s the outlook for each of these teams’ tanking odds, especially after the trade deadline, which made some of these bottom feeders even worse. The teams we chose are ranked by their current standings position.

10. Florida Panthers (33-29-3, 69 points)

How deadline moves will affect them: With apologies to Jeff Petry, it won’t, because they barely did anything. The big opportunity was to find a taker for Sergei Bobrovsky, along with his two rings and his expiring contract. That was probably a pipe dream, and given how he’s playing this season, keeping him around might actually help their tank.

Overall outlook: The Panthers are one of two teams that have traded away their first-round pick. But unlike the Leafs, the Florida pick is top-10 protected, a cutoff they’re right around today. That puts even more pressure on them to make sure they stay cold, because the last thing the Florida Panthers want to see is a referee who calls the rulebook the Blackhawks getting the 11th pick from them.

They face the Rangers and Maple Leafs in the season’s final week, which could be big. But the key here is to avoid any hot streaks. Remember, this is a team that hasn’t just won two straight Cups, but has also beaten Colorado, Buffalo and Minnesota since New Year’s. You might feel a little sting. That’s pride missing with you.

What they can do to get even worse: There’s been talk of Brad Marchand being shut down, which would make sense. Seth Jones and Sam Reinhart are banged up, too. And at all costs, avoid picking up wins next week in Calgary or Vancouver.

9. Nashville Predators (29-27-9, 67 points)

How deadline moves will affect them: GM Barry Trotz trimmed around the edges by selling off Michael McCarron, Michael Bunting, Cole Smith and Nick Blankenburg for draft picks. Those losses aren’t going to move the needle for them, though, especially because the Preds always have young players and quality depth to call up from Milwaukee. 

Most importantly, Nashville held on to Ryan O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, which means the top of their lineup is going to stay competitive.

Overall outlook: Since Dec. 1, the Predators have quietly played to a respectable .588 points percentage, which ranks 13th-best in the NHL. Nashville’s top-six forward group has more life than many expected: Stamkos has a staggering 26 goals in his past 42 games, O’Reilly is hovering around the point-per-game mark, Luke Evangelista has had an impressive breakout year, and Filip Forsberg is still a threat.

Nashville surrenders a lot of high-danger chances defensively, but Juuse Saros has played better than his numbers would indicate (especially lately), giving the club a chance to collect points anyway. The Preds also have the 11th-easiest remaining strength of schedule in the NHL, according to Tankathon. Motivation is also high — the Preds are only one point back of a wild-card spot (albeit with two fewer games remaining and multiple teams to jump) — which means they’re going to stay very hungry down the stretch.

What they can do to get even worse: Keep starting games poorly. The Predators have either surrendered the first goal or walked into the first intermission trailing in five of their last six games. On Thursday against the dreadful Canucks, they were outshot 12-2, went down 1-0 early, and could easily have been down 3-0 if it weren’t for Saros’ heroics. In the end, they only took one point from Vancouver in a shootout loss.

8. Toronto Maple Leafs (28-27-11, 67 points)

How deadline moves will affect them: They moved out a few pieces, although not as many as most of the fan base would have liked. Scott Laughton and Nicolas Roy were playing down the lineup in defensive roles and Bobby McMann was on pace for a decent 25-goal season; all will be missed to some extent, but not enough that it changes the 20-game outlook.

Overall outlook: The Maple Leafs have to navigate a factor that few teams on this sort of list should have to worry about, in that they’ve already traded away their first-round pick. The good news is that it’s top-five protected; the bad news is that it leaves a lot of ground for the Leafs to lose, especially since the lottery means finishing fifth or even fourth-last wouldn’t guarantee anything. (The worst news is that every Leafs fan already knows they’re going to end up handing the Bruins the sixth pick, but let’s at least pretend there’s still some suspense.)

Auston Matthews’ devastating season-ending injury could turn things from bad to ugly. With Matthews, Toronto had dropped eight of its nine games since the Olympic break — how bleak will the team look now without their captain? The standings, the basic stats, and the advanced metrics are all singing from the same songbook right now: This is a legitimately bad team that will probably keep sinking.

What they can do to get even worse: The big key here will be the Craig Berube watch. There’s virtually zero chance that he’s still the head coach on opening night in October, so it’s just a matter of when. Mirtle made the case for making a change now, and it’s hard to argue against. But with the players having clearly pulled the chute on their coach, keeping Berube in place could help the tank efforts while also sending a message about who’s actually in charge in Toronto.

7. New Jersey Devils (32-31-2, 66 points)

How deadline moves will affect them: Tom Fitzgerald sat out the deadline entirely, with no selling to be found. The big name here would have been Dougie Hamilton, but Fitzgerald claims he wasn’t interested in that.

Overall outlook: Like a few other teams, including the Leafs and Panthers, the Devils would rather view this season as a brief step back than the start of a rebuild. That’s fair, but it does limit their tanking options somewhat. They’ve still got two more games against the Rangers, which could end up being important.

On the schedule front, there’s more good news. Five of their last seven games are against the Canadiens (twice), Senators, Bruins and Red Wings, four teams that could be fighting tooth-and-nail for three playoff spots.

One other key to keep an eye on: Loser points. With just two on the year, the Devils have the fewest in the league. That’s good, and not just because it’s been proven that the hockey gods hate loser points. It’s a small detail that a lot of tanking teams miss, but if you’re going to lose, get it done in regulation. The Devils seem to get that.

What they can do to get even worse: Jacob Markstrom is 36, so starting him on back-to-back nights, which the Devils have already done twice in March, is a nice bit of tank-work by Sheldon Keefe, even if it didn’t really work. (Markstrom won three of those four games, because he’s clearly not a team player.)

6. Winnipeg Jets (26-28-10, 62 points)

How deadline moves will affect them: Winnipeg’s big move at the deadline was selling off Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn to the Sabres.

Stanley took meaningful strides this year, but for most teams, losing a third-pair caliber contributor wouldn’t be a huge deal. This might actually be a big blow for the Jets, though, because it’s forced Haydn Fleury, who’s struggling mightily, into an everyday role. Winnipeg has been outscored 19-5 with Fleury on the ice at five-on-five, and the underlying play-driving numbers are just as brutal.

Overall outlook: The Jets were in 32nd place in early January, but they’ve gone on an 11-7-5 run that’s pushed them outside the bottom five. And because the Western Conference is a mess, the team is still holding out hope for a last-minute heater that squeaks them into the playoffs.

Winnipeg seems like a team that will get caught in the middle. A playoff spot feels unlikely for them because their recent success has mostly been built on beating bad teams (only three wins against teams in a playoff spot in 2026), their schedule is getting tougher, they still lack offensive generators outside of the top line, and they still get outshot and outchanced most nights.

At the same time, though, it’s tough to imagine them finishing bottom-five when they’ve still got elite talent in Connor Hellebuyck, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. Importantly, because they’re still alive in the playoff race, their games have real meaning, so their top players are going to stay motivated to play their best down the stretch.

What they can do to get even worse: Keep Fleury in the lineup every game instead of giving Ville Heinola a proper look. Not only is Scott Arniel keeping Fleury in the lineup, but he’s played at least 17 and a half minutes in three of his last four games.

5. St. Louis Blues (27-29-10, 64 points)

How deadline moves will affect them: The Blues could have looked a lot worse post-deadline than they actually are. Colton Parayko nixed a trade to the Sabres, and their best forward, Robert Thomas, is still on the team as well. 

Justin Faulk’s departure means a far bigger top-four role for Logan Mailloux. Mailloux was unplayable in the first half of the season, but he’s improved considerably and suddenly doesn’t look out of place eating up 22+ minutes per night; whether that newfound stability lasts will have a huge impact on the performance of the Blues’ top-four defense the rest of the way.

Brayden Schenn’s loss will be felt, but it won’t be crushing, as he was only playing at a 38-point pace before the trade. 

Overall outlook: Between Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway, Parayko, and high-pedigree youngsters such as Jimmy Snuggerud, Jake Neighbours and Dalibor Dvorsky, the Blues have a roster that’s probably too talented on paper to tank further than their current position. Lately, we’re seeing signs of that as St. Louis has won five of its last six games since the Olympic break. There’s a decent chance the Blues could pass the Jets and even climb out of the bottom five.

One of the biggest game-changers is that Thomas (10 points in his last six games) and Holloway (12 points in his last eight games) are healthy and finally getting hot. Both of them missed most of January and February — now that they’re healthy and playing together, the Blues are icing a legitimately productive top-line, which you certainly can’t say about every basement dweller. 

What they can do to get even worse: Hope their goaltending regresses to where it’s been for most of the season. Heading into the Olympic break, Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer were arguably the worst goaltending tandem in the NHL this season.

As important as Thomas and Holloway have been to the Blues’ improved play lately, their lights-out goaltending has arguably been an even bigger driver. Hofer has a .948 save percentage in his last five games, and Binnington has allowed just five goals combined in three starts since the Olympic break.

4. New York Rangers (27-30-8, 62 points)

How deadline moves will affect them: Not as much as Rangers fans may have hoped, given that GM Chris Drury didn’t trade anyone of significance last week. That includes Vincent Trocheck, who’d been widely assumed to be on the move and whose value will probably never be higher.

Drury also didn’t move Adam Fox or find a way to offload Mika Zibanejad, although those are much easier to understand due to Fox’s age and Zibanejad’s contract. But the Trocheck decision stings, both in terms of the tank and missed opportunity.

In fairness, Drury did move Artemi Panarin before the Olympic freeze, albeit for an underwhelming return. So he didn’t skip the midseason market entirely. He just didn’t do as much dismantling as Rangers fans would have liked, or as his midseason letter seemed to imply.

Overall outlook: Could the Matthews-less Leafs rival the Rangers for last place in the Eastern Conference? It’s possible. For now, though, the Rangers still have a five-point cushion on Toronto, and could even finish as low as 31st, though they’ll need to stop beating teams like the Jets, which they did on Thursday night.

Their schedule doesn’t feature as many “must lose” showdowns with the worst of the worst as the western teams have; they face the Blackhawks in a few weeks, but that’s it for teams in the mix for dead last. The flip side is that most of their games are against teams playing for postseason spots or seeding, which is good news.

What they can do to get even worse: Is Igor Shesterkin hurt? Doesn’t he look kind of hurt to you? I’m pretty sure he’s hurt. Let’s maybe shut him down just in case.

3. Chicago Blackhawks (25-29-11, 61 points)

How deadline moves will affect them: They did a good job of selling, which you’d expect given how much practice they have. Moving Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson will hurt their depth, so that’s nice work by Kyle Davidson. Giving their captain away for free was just showing off.

Overall outlook: The Hawks have shown flashes this year, even hanging around the playoff bubble for a chunk of the first half. They were 10-5-2 in mid-November, but have won just 14 of 48 since. So really, the Hawks don’t have to change much. Keep doing what they’ve been doing for months, and they’ll end up right where they always do.

In the bigger picture, that could be a problem — you don’t want guys such as Connor Bedard, Alex Vlasic and Frank Nazar to go years without ever playing a meaningful game. We could call that the Taylor Hall dilemma, and it’s not great for long-term success. Teams can mumble about a culture of excellence all they want, but at some point you have to do a bit of winning. That leaves the Hawks with a tough needle to thread; they want to lose down the stretch, but not so much that the stench lingers into the future.

What they can do to get even worse: It doesn’t matter, because Gary Bettman will rig the lottery for them anyway.

(I kid, I kid.)

(He’s obviously rigging it for the Rangers this year.)

2. Calgary Flames (26-32-7, 59 points)

How deadline moves will affect them: GM Craig Conroy pulled off a masterclass for the tank by dumping Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar (in addition to Rasmus Andersson earlier in the year) for strong returns.

Calgary’s blue line, in particular, is very inexperienced and unproven now. Up front, the Flames brought in Ryan Strome as a stopgap center/reclamation project to presumably flip again next year. It was a smart move, and he’s had a decent start (four points in four games), but he’s unlikely to keep that up.

Overall outlook: The Flames are always a hard-working, spirited team that punches above its talent level, but compete can only take you so far. With Kadri, Weegar and Andersson gone, the Flames’ lack of proven, high-end skill is probably only matched by the Canucks. We saw evidence of that this week as the Flames didn’t really look close in lopsided losses against the Capitals and Rangers. They did bounce back with a surprisingly high-scoring victory against the Devils, but we aren’t betting on them having too many outings like that left in the tank.

There’s a natural tailwind for the tank as well, since Calgary has the second-toughest remaining schedule in the Western Conference. That somehow includes three more games against Colorado.

What they can do to get even worse: The heavy lifting to get worse was already achieved at the deadline. Getting shutout 4-0 by the Rangers was huge — a similar result next week against the Blues would be icing on the cake.

1. Vancouver Canucks (20-37-8, 48 points)

How deadline moves will affect them: This was already an awful roster after the Quinn Hughes and Kiefer Sherwood trades, and management further leaned into the rebuild by dealing a couple of quality veterans with term in Conor Garland and Tyler Myers.

Garland wasn’t playing his best hockey before the trade, but he was still the team’s best play-driving winger. Myers was having a tough year, but his departure means tougher matchups and top-four usage for 21-year-old rookie Tom Willander. Willander will be an important piece on the blue line for a long time, but the short-term results aren’t going to be pretty.

Overall outlook: It’s going to take a miracle for anyone to catch the Canucks. Vancouver has an 11-point cushion on 31st, the club has lost 25 of its last 30 games, and its underlying numbers are atrocious as it’s controlled just 36 percent of five-on-five scoring chances since the Olympic break.

Thatcher Demko is out for the year, so there’s no threat of goaltending bailing them out. They’re so desperately lacking dynamic, game-breaking talent that can help them control play and generate offense.

This Canucks team is reminiscent of the pre-Connor Bedard Blackhawks or the pre-Macklin Celebrini Sharks.

What they can do to get even worse: Wait until the offseason to make any potential coaching change. The Canucks should consider hiring a new coach for next season, given how structureless and porous their defensive play has been under Adam Foote, not to mention the lack of meaningful progress among their young players. Pulling the trigger on that move before the season ends probably won’t change the 32nd-place outcome anyway, but keeping the status quo all but guarantees it.