Games are running out, and there is less and less time for movement in the standings. With just 12 games remaining, a Flames fan’s worst fear may be starting to manifest: finishing the season both outside of a playoff spot and outside of a top-10 draft pick.

It feels odd in almost any context to think that a better record and a higher finish in the standings could be considered a bad thing. But that is exactly the case with this current Flames team. Finishing anywhere outside of the bottom 10 could easily label the general scope of the season a failure. Plus, as much as many want the Flames to make the playoffs, you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it to scrape their way in. Of course, once the playoffs begin, it’s a clean slate and anyone can beat anyone, but when you look at the potential matchups the Flames would face, it looks more like a waste of a week.

Why are the Flames in this all-too-familiar position, and how do they avoid this dreaded mediocre finish?

Currently, the St. Louis Blues are the Flames’ biggest roadblock to securing a playoff berth. The Blues are absolutely rolling right now—winners of seven in a row and outscoring their opponents 34-10 in that span. They are looking like a true playoff team. With arguably the easiest schedule ahead, the cards are in the Blues’ favour to be the final team in the West to clinch a playoff spot.

Calgary’s schedule to finish the season isn’t particularly difficult by any means. Sure, they have games in hand on all the other teams in the wild-card race, but aside from a handful of standout performances, they have not been playing complete games like a true playoff team should.

Goals remain hard to come by, the penalty kill has been abysmal in recent games, and without late-game heroics in New Jersey, Long Island, and at home against Seattle, this recent stretch would look much different. To some extent, the Flames are getting in their own way when it comes to making the playoffs. Somehow, the strategy of relying on Wolf to keep them in the game and staging a third-period comeback is working—but it’s far from reliable. If the Flames are going to make the playoffs, something needs to change quickly, and they must take control in the remaining games.

At the end of the day, the Flames are their own their own worst enemies when you look at either direction. It’s bittersweet that the most encouraging and exciting storylines of the season are also the same storylines that could make the outcome of the season the most frustrating for Flames fans.

If you don’t know the story of Dustin Wolf this year, I’m not sure where you’ve been. Without getting caught up in the specifics, Wolf is and will be the biggest reason the Flames see playoff hockey if it comes to that point. Along with that, he could find himself in Calder or even Hart Trophy conversations. While it’s thrilling to watch him in net, Wolf is preventing any sort of tank the Flames could potentially benefit from. There’s still no reason to sit him, but when Wolf is in net, he gives the Flames a chance to win every game.

It’s also hard to imagine where the Flames would be without Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, or even a guy like Matt Coronato. Goals have been scarce all year, and without these players, it’s tough to picture the Flames scoring at all.

Huberdeau’s resurgence has been so encouraging to watch. For a while, his contract looked like it might be the worst in Flames history, but seeing him re-build his style of play and find his game again has been fantastic.

The Matt Coronato story has also been a bright spot this season. From not making the team to working his way up the lineup to ultimately becoming a 20-goal scorer in the NHL, his development has been exciting.

Why can’t these be the storylines of a team poised to make a deep playoff run? If anything though, it at least provides excitement and hope when looking to next season.

These players, along with the rest of the roster, are competing every night. They are making the five-point gap from a top-10 draft pick feel more like a 15-point difference.

Speaking of that five-point difference, it’s not as simple as it sounds. While four teams are battling for the last wild-card spot, you could argue that nine teams are in contention for positions 20th-23rd in the overall league standings. The Flames aren’t the only team that could benefit from a top-10 draft pick. At this point, losing games isn’t enough if those other teams are losing too. This is where games in hand become a disadvantage because the Flames would need to lose even more games than the teams already behind them. That’s not an easy thing to do when you’re trying to win.

Overall, trending in one direction or another is easier said than done. With so many teams clustered together in the standings and the Flames grinding away every game, it feels impossible to predict where they’ll end up. There is still time for changes in the standings, but that time is running out quickly.