When Washington Capitals players began saying earlier this week that the “playoffs start right now”, the team seemed to underestimate how big of a hole they were in (which begs questions about how much the coaching staff is preparing them).

Because of how many more games the Capitals have played than their playoff competitors, the Caps’ closeness to the final wild-card spot — as of the morning of Thursday, February 23 — is a mirage.

The Capitals, who have 62 standings points, are two points behind the Florida Panthers for eighth. That’s not bad, right? It’s just one win — which perhaps they could get tonight against the lowly Anaheim Ducks — away from being back in it. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Screenshot: NHL.com

The Capitals sit in eleventh place in the Eastern Conference and have played in three more games than the ninth-place Pittsburgh Penguins (63) and tenth-place Detroit Red Wings (62), who are both ahead of them in the standings. That means both of those teams could bag at a maximum, six more points, when they catch up to the Capitals in games played.

Behind the Capitals is where things get even more precarious. The twelfth-place Buffalo Sabres (60), who are two points behind the Capitals, have four games in hand while the thirteenth-place Ottawa Senators (58), four points behind, have three games in hand.

Now let’s look at the two teams currently in the wild-card spots, whose grip on those spots are not secure. The seventh-place New York Islanders (67), are five points ahead of the Capitals, and the eighth-place Panthers (64), are two points ahead of the Capitals. The Isles have played two more games than the Caps and the Panthers have played in one more.

The Capitals are really behind the eight-ball — they have a points percentage better than only one of these wild card teams (the Ottawa Senators) — and that shows in their current playoff odds.

MoneyPuck has the Capitals’ chances of making the playoffs at 11.1 percent and Micah McCurdy’s model has them at 25.4 percent.

All this is to say, the Capitals, who have been the worst team in hockey lately, seem all but assured to miss the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons, setting the stage for the team to be sellers at the trade deadline.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB