The NHL regular season will end in three weeks, and at press time all 30 teams were still mathematically alive for the playoffs. But don’t bet your hockey dollar on all 30 teams. It would take some heavy quantum lifting to get the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning and a few others into the postseason.

The Kings (27-38-6) are the worst team in the league this year, 20 points back of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 11 games remaining. Tampa Bay isn’t much better at 27-35-8; the Bolts need at least 18 more points to get into the Eastern playoff picture. They also have 12 games to get there. But really, they’re toast.

It won’t be long before we can write off all the pretenders. The 10th-place teams in each conference (there are six such teams, including ties) are seven points off the pace. One of them might sneak in; the Washington Capitals have the shortest Cup odds of this sextet at 30-1.