Playoff odds show season slipping away for some NHL teams.

A recent look at the Stanley Cup playoff odds show the season is slipping away for some NHL teams.

There have been clear winners and clear losers in the first half or so of this National Hockey League season and as we rapidly approach the holiday roster freeze the playoff odds indicate that the season is already slipping away from a number of teams around the league.

Of course some of the teams on the wrong side of the odds will come as no surprise given the poor starts they have had to the season, but it may still surprise you to see just how little of a chance the oddsmakers are giving them of seeing any sort of a run for the playoffs happen.

Recently, MoneyPuck published their updated playoff odds and for the bottom 5 teams in the league things are looking truly abysmal, here they are in reverse order from the least likely to make the playoffs to the most likely to make it.

#32 San Jose Sharks – 0%

The Sharks have been a terrible team this season so it comes as no surprise to see them at the bottom, but a 0% chance to make it is rather brutal. That being said the Sharks have just 11 wins in their first 33 games of the season and a horrendous -27 goal differential so their position on this list is probably well deserved.

#31 Chicago Blackhawks – 0.2%

Unfortunately for first overall pick and Chicago Blackhawks star forward Connor Bedard his second season in the NHL also appears destined to see no hope of even reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Blackhawks have won even fewer games, just 9 wins to their name, and currently boast a -23 goal differential on the season.

#30 Anaheim Ducks – 1.2%

Like the Sharks the Ducks only have 11 wins this season but can still make up ground with 4 fewer games played, giving them better odds than their Pacific Division rivals despite currently sitting lower in the standings. The fact that the Ducks are 1 point behind the Sharks does however speak to their lack of success and their odds of making it remain extremely slim.

#29 Columbus Blue Jackets – 1.6%

The Columbus Blue Jackets have every excuse in the world to have a poor season following the tragic passing of star forward Johnny Gaudreau but despite that they do not find themselves at the bottom of this list. Their 12 wins gives them better odds than the Sharks, Blackhawks and Ducks, although their chances of making it in remain very slim as well.

#28 Montreal Canadiens – 2.3%

The Canadiens currently sit at the bottom of the NHL’s Atlantic Diviision with only 11 wins but struggling teams within their own division have kept the very slim hope of their playoff chances more alive than some other names on this list. The Canadiens boast an abysmal -31 goal differential and despite having slightly higher odds I see no chance of them turning their season around.

Dishonorable mention: #27 Nashville Predators – 2.4%

There is no team on this list with fewer wins than the Nashville Predators who have only managed to win 8 of their 31 games played this season, on their way to a -28 goal differential. I include the Predators on this list if only because of how high expectations were for this team after they splurged on big name free agents in the offseason, a game plan that now seems to be backfiring in the worst way imaginable for this franchise.

You can see a full breakdown of the odds in the graph below courtesy of MoneyPuck.