The Buffalo Sabres made history Wednesday by becoming the first team to finish 31st in the NHL standings.
Buffalo clinched the league's last-place position with a regulation loss to the Ottawa Senators, whom the Sabres won't be able to catch with only two games remaining and a five-point gap between them.
It marks Buffalo's third last-place finish in the past five seasons, as the Sabres dropped to 30th in both 2013-14 and 2014-15. The addition of the Vegas Golden Knights this season pushed Buffalo a notch below those campaigns, albeit with more points earned in 2017-18 than in either of the other two.
As a result, the Sabres will have the highest odds of landing the top pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, with an 18.5 percent chance of winning the lottery to be held April 28 in Toronto.
The Calgary Flames were among the NHL's biggest underachievers this season, and general manager Brad Treliving has one potential explanation for his team's disappointing performance.
Even after a four-game sweep by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs last year, the Flames were perceived as a team on the rise, and the offseason additions of Travis Hamonic and Mike Smith raised expectations even more. The changes seemed to be working, too. In the middle of January, Calgary was 25-16-4, coming off a seven-game winning streak. A second-place finish in the Pacific Division didn't seem far-fetched.
Yet a poor second half that's included two losing streaks of six or more games has left the Flames more than 10 points out of a playoff spot.
There's clearly more than one reason for the Flames' collapse, but weeks after their last game of meaningful hockey, Treliving is concerned about the team's level of emotional investment.
"There's an emotional level you have to get to to assist you in winning, and we have to look into that," Treliving told Eric Francis of the Ottawa Sun. "Are we emotionally invested enough? We're missing something.
"I think we've got to find a way to be more emotionally engaged. We've got to be harder to play against. That can mean a lot of different things, but we've got to find the identity of our team."
Those comments would seem to suggest that Treliving is questioning his team's character, but he says that's not the issue.
"I don't question our character," he said. "I'm around these guys every day, and I don't buy into that. This team was praised for its character a year ago when we made the playoffs, and, all of a sudden, we lost that? I don't question whether these guys want to win. Everyone wants to win."
He admitted changes are on the way, but didn't say whether they'd include head coach Glen Gulutzan.
"I think we've got a good coach. We've got some good players, but we're all subject to scrutiny when a season goes like this," Treliving said.
Calgary has never been a hot destination for free agents, and the Flames don't pick until the third round of the draft, so Treliving could have a difficult time finding the missing pieces for his team this offseason.
Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun will miss the final two games of the season with a lower-body injury suffered during Tuesday's meeting with Calgary, the team announced.
Chychrun was injured upon being tripped by Flames forward Michael Frolik, and underwent an MRI on Wednesday after being unable to finish the game.
The season-ending ankle injury that Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter suffered is no typical hockey wound.
"It's very fluky, an injury that doesn't happen very often in sports," Suter said Wednesday, according to Dan Myers of the team's website. "The doctors have said they usually only see this type of injury in car accidents."
Suter's foot banged into the boards during a puck battle with Dallas Stars foward Remi Elie, and X-rays later revealed a fractured fibula.
Suter said the fact his foot was quickly placed in a walking boot protected his ankle from further damage, but "(doctors have) been pretty worried."
His goal is to be ready for training camp in September, and he'll now have to watch his team make a Stanley Cup push without him.
"It's frustrating," Suter said. "You grind it out all year and to not be able to play and help out in the playoffs ... I feel bad for my teammates, but I know they will do a great job."
The Chicago Blackhawks are going to miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade, but they won't be lacking motivation Wednesday or Friday.
Despite the lost season, the Blackhawks can deal a pair of significant blows to their biggest Central Division rivals, the St. Louis Blues, when the two clubs play twice over the next three nights.
"They’re a good team and they’re fighting for a playoff spot right now," Blackhawks forward Alex DeBrincat told Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. "We’re not going out there and just letting them take it. We want to crush their hopes."
DeBrincat notched a hat trick in their last meeting on March 18.
Entering Wednesday's game, the Blues sit one point behind the Avalanche for the final Western Conference spot with a game in hand. St. Louis will play Colorado in both teams' final regular-season contest Saturday.
Blues head coach Mike Yeo insists his squad knows what's at stake.
"Read the clips, and we don’t need extra motivation right now," he told Lazerus.
If the Blues miss out, it would be the first time they've done so since 2010-11. They have three regular-season games remaining.
It's been a tough season for the Islanders' franchise player on a couple of fronts, with the team's underperformance and, of course, the well-documented fact that he's a pending unrestricted free agent.
Last week, Tavares said he's not sure if he's going to represent Canada at the World Championship next month because he doesn't yet have an NHL contract for next season.
His Twitter account is still active, but he hasn't tweeted since Jan. 31 and has only tweeted 427 times since joining the platform nearly six years ago.
As they continue to fight for their playoff lives, the Florida Panthers have all but acknowledged one of their top prospects could use a bit more seasoning.
The club assigned forward Owen Tippett to the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds on Wednesday.
He's managed one goal in seven NHL games in 2017-18.
Tippett poured in 36 goals and 75 points in 51 contests for the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads earlier this season, after racking up 44 goals and 75 points with the Steelheads in 2016-17.
The Panthers selected the 19-year-old winger 10th overall in last June's draft.
Florida defeated the Nashville Predators in controversial fashion Tuesday night to keep its postseason hopes alive, but the Panthers sit four points back of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with three games remaining, and two of those contests will be against the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins.
With this year's Hart Trophy race still wide open heading into the final few days of the regular season, it's a great time to break down some of the other close races over the course of the past half-century.
Here's a look at the 10 best Hart Trophy competitions since 1967 (first-place votes in parentheses where applicable):
10. Joe Thornton, Sharks, def. Jaromir Jagr, Rangers (2005-06)
NAME
VOTES
Thornton
1058 (67)
Jagr
974 (48)
Thornton's first Art Ross Trophy came with his only league MVP title - but both races were rather tight, as the sensational playmaker finished just two points clear of Jagr in the scoring race. Jagr's 54 goals nearly doubled Thornton's output and the Rangers finished with one more point than the Sharks, but in the end, Thornton's whopping 96 assists were the difference.
9. Corey Perry, Ducks, def. Daniel Sedin, Canucks (2010-11)
NAME
VOTES
Perry
1043 (67)
Sedin
960 (51)
Unlike the previous example, scoring more goals actually did make a difference this time around, as Perry's league-best 50 tallies earned him a slight edge despite finishing six points behind Sedin in the scoring race. In fact, by most other accounts, Sedin was actually the better contributor - and the Canucks finished 18 points ahead of the Ducks in the standings.
8. Bobby Orr, Bruins, def. Phil Esposito, Bruins (1970-71)
NAME
VOTES
Orr
151
Esposito
127
Just how good was Orr? He managed to steal the Hart Trophy from a player - and teammate, no less - who had shattered the previous league mark for goals and points in a season. But despite a 76-goal, 152-point masterpiece from Esposito, Orr was the voters' choice for best player in the NHL - and with good reason, as he racked up 139 points while posting a plus-minus of +124.
7. Henrik Sedin, Canucks, def. Alex Ovechkin, Capitals (2009-10)
NAME
VOTES
Sedin
894 (46)
Ovechkin
834 (40)
The Sedins did end up on the right end of a close Hart Trophy vote - though it was playmaker Henrik, not sniper Daniel, who eked out a win over Ovechkin and Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who was a not-too-distant third in the voting. Sedin fended off both future Hall of Famers by three points for his one and only Art Ross Trophy while leading the Canucks to a 103-point season.
6. Bobby Clarke, Flyers, def. Rogie Vachon, Kings (1974-75)
NAME
VOTES
Clarke
127
Vachon
113
Clarke's second of three Hart Trophies in a four-year span didn't come easily. Despite leading the NHL in assists (89) and finishing with a +79 rating, the Flyers legend ran neck-and-neck with Vachon, who was a fan favorite but wasn't even the best goalie in the league that season. That honor belonged to Clarke's teammate, Bernie Parent, who finished fourth in voting.
5. Wayne Gretzky, Oilers, def. Mike Liut, Capitals (1980-81)
NAME
VOTES
Gretzky
242
Liut
237
Gretzky's Hart Trophy "races" in the early- and mid-1980s weren't all that close, but few fans remember that his second MVP award came by the slimmest of margins. The Great One fended off a spirited charge from Liut, who took home first-team All-Star and Lester B. Pearson Award honors after posting 33 victories and a decent (at the time) 3.34 goals-against average.
4. Alex Ovechkin, Capitals, def. Sidney Crosby, Penguins (2012-13)
NAME
VOTES
Ovechkin
1090 (50)
Crosby
1058 (46)
The lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign produced one of the best Hart Trophy competitions in recent memory, with Ovechkin edging out rival Crosby after both finished with 56 points - four back of Art Ross champ Martin St. Louis. Ovechkin's league-high 32 goals likely swayed the voting contingent. John Tavares was third with 919 votes, while St. Louis finished ninth.
3. Mark Messier, Oilers, def. Ray Bourque, Bruins (1989-90)
NAME
VOTES
Messier
227 (29)
Bourque
225 (29)
You have to feel for Bourque, who was the defensive anchor for a sensational Bruins team but found himself perpetually one step behind the powerhouse Oilers. Messier emerged victorious thanks to having more third-place votes (10) than Bourque (two), who was passed over by a number of voters who opted to make Blues sniper Brett Hull their No. 3 choice.
2. Chris Pronger, Blues, def. Jaromir Jagr, Penguins (1999-00)
NAME
VOTES
Pronger
396 (25)
Jagr
395 (18)
While it might come as a shock to some that Jagr will end his legendary NHL tenure with just one league MVP trophy, this list reveals he easily could have had two more. The problem in 1999-00 was that Pronger was clearly the best defenseman in the league - and that gap between himself and the rest of the field was juuuuust enough to edge out Jagr and his 96 points.
1. Jose Theodore, Canadiens, def. Jarome Iginla, Flames (2001-02)
NAME
VOTES
Theodore
434 (26)
Iginla
434 (23)
It's the only tie atop the Hart Trophy voting in the expansion era - and to this day, there are still fans (many of whom are based in Calgary) who believe Iginla was robbed. But it's hard to argue with Theodore's contributions that season - and if you use Hockey Reference's Point Shares to inform your choice, Theodore (17.4) finished well ahead of Iginla (14.4).
Frolik was assessed a tripping minor for upending Chychrun behind the Coyotes net late in the first period of Tuesday's game.
The Arizona blue-liner left the contest and was then ruled out for the remainder at the start of the second period.
Chychrun will have an MRI on Wednesday, according to Morgan.
Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet wasn't pleased about Frolik's hit when asked about it postgame.
"I know he's not a dirty player, but it's a dirty play," he said. "I don't like it at all. I don't know how (Chychrun) is right now, we've got to evaluate him. It's not good. We're hoping for the best."
