We haven't reached the end of the season and there are still playoff spots up for grabs, but whether teams are in the hunt or not, some have had seriously disappointing seasons.

For a few squads that are all but eliminated, the disappointment has been building all season, and now that the schedule is running out of games, reality is hitting them in the face.

For teams still sniffing around at a wild-card spot, there's angst that they're fighting for a spot to begin with—and that will only get much worse if they wind up on the outside of the Stanley Cup Playoffs looking in.

For this handful of teams, we're looking into what they should be doing first and foremost in the offseason to prevent a return to this position. Whether it's signing certain players, making hard decisions on different areas of the roster or management, or maybe just pulling the bandage off and facing the harsh reality that time has caught up to them, we'll sort it all out.

Again, we know your team isn't officially out yet, but time is getting really short for them to figure that out, isn't it? Onward!

Buffalo Sabres: An Exorcist

While most teams are stung by disappointment, the Buffalo Sabres are haunted by it.

The stars appeared to be aligned for Buffalo this season to take the next step after it came up short last year. With all the Sabres' superb young talent, getting close and missing out on the playoffs felt like the logical jumping-off point for them to end their drought and become an annual postseason team and eventual Stanley Cup contender.

Instead, they lost Jack Quinn to a torn Achilles over the summer and saw key players Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner deal with injuries at various times early on in the season in which they struggled to find any consistency or confidence.

The Sabres' biggest issue a year ago was goaltending, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen took over the No. 1 job this year, locking down the position only to see the power play go ice-cold and the high-powered offense turn into a very average one for most of the year.

The injuries, the aura of the soon-to-be 13-year playoff drought and the anguish of the fans desperate to get back to the postseason haunt everything good they're trying to do with such a young team.

Grab an exorcist to vanquish the negativity that looms around all of it (as well as a strong third-line center), and the Sabres might be cooking next year.

Calgary Flames: Direction

The Calgary Flames sold off any players whose contracts were up after this season, and it was the right idea. The problem they've got now is how they're going to put their roster together in the summer while also addressing other issues.

For instance, goaltender Jacob Markstrom was royally peeved about how the team handled the decision of whether to trade him at the deadline. That relationship seems like it's hurting, and it's questionable if it can be smoothed over. They could trade him relatively easily, but they'd put all their hopes on Dustin Wolf and Daniel Vladar if they did.

They've got solid players in Jonathan Huberdeau, Blake Coleman and Nazem Kadri, and they have a promising rookie in center Connor Zary. They don't have enough solid defensemen, but Mackenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson are very good. Those are players they can feel good about, but they need to rebuild their support for them as well as their depth.

Calgary could rebound, and relatively quickly, but GM Craig Conroy has his hands full trying to get everyone and others to buy into what they're doing.

Minnesota Wild: Healthy Defense

The Minnesota Wild's campaign may have been cut off at the knees in the first half when goalies Marc-André Fleury and Filip Gustavsson started ice cold, but the one issue that hammered them all season was injuries on the blue line.

Captain Jared Spurgeon and stellar veteran Jonas Brodin have each missed a lot of games this season, and those are two guys who play more than 20 minutes a game. Spurgeon helps lead their attack from the back by being a high-end puck carrier and point producer, while Brodin is one of the tougher defenders in the league.

The Wild have been fortunate that rookie Brock Faber has been beyond outstanding to help soften the blow of losing them, but it's also put a lot on his shoulders. Good thing Faber is that good, but it also highlights what could've been had Spurgeon and Brodin been able to stay on the ice more often than not.

Of all the teams we're talking about today, the Wild still have the best shot at making the playoffs, and if they do, it'll be a remarkable job of pulling themselves out of the depths. But whether they do or not, blue-line injuries have haunted them all year.

New Jersey Devils: A Goalie. Please!

It's been tough to watch the New Jersey Devils sort of put it back together in the second half of the season and knowing they did what they could to address their poor goaltending situation only to see that it still wasn't quite enough to pull them out of the abyss.

Bringing in Jake Allen and Kaapo Kähkönen to replace Vitek Vanecek and the youngster duo of Akira Schmid and Nico Daws made sense because they had to do something, but Allen and Kähkönen haven't been able to do enough to turn it all around.

The Devils entered the season as a Stanley Cup contender, and now it's looking very likely they won't even make the playoffs. The good thing for New Jersey is it's got a ton of talent, and the Devils showed they can be one of the best teams in the NHL just a year ago. Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes (when healthy) is a group of players that can win games.

What that group can't do is stop the puck.

Whether the Devils take their chances in free agency by going after guys like Cam Talbot, Marc-André Fleury, Ilya Samsonov or less tested veterans such as Anthony Stolarz or Scott Wedgewood (who was a Devil years ago); or they take aim on a trade candidate (Jacob Markstrom, John Gibson), they have to do something to fix the position first and foremost.

Ottawa Senators: The Right Coach

The Ottawa Senators are in an awkward position in that they've got a lot of great, young players ready to carry them into the future and become a perennial pain in the rear end to everyone in the Eastern Conference.

They've also been recently sold, and the new owner, Michael Andlauer, has already swept out the old GM and coach and at least hired his new GM in Steve Staios.

Even though we love that Jacques Martin is behind the bench for the rest of this season, they'll need someone to mold this group in the future. Finding the right coach to lead the way and get this group to play together is the biggest question to answer.

Having them play for Martin the rest of this season is great for them to learn defensive responsibility and how to play more disciplined...or else. Those lessons should help their younger players like Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle and Jake Sanderson, among a few others, to carry the team for years. But they'll need a coach who's more well-adapted to the modern game and knows how best to adapt to a younger group like the Senators have.

That's not to say that Martin or any other older coaches aren't capable of that—they certainly are more than able to do it—but Ottawa needs someone who can rally the group together and offer a relatable, guiding hand.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Figure It Out

Of all the teams looking at a difficult offseason this year, the Pittsburgh Penguins are the squad with the hardest questions to face up to.

They're an old team in desperate need of getting younger. Their best prospects are extremely young and a year or two away from the NHL. And while they have some high-end prospects, they don't have many of them.

They've got Sidney Crosby, who is still one of the best in the league. Evgeni Malkin is still producing well for a 37-year-old. Erik Karlsson had a fine season even if it wasn't a 100-point season like he had in San Jose a year ago.

But the thing with aging players is that they're going to hit a wall eventually, and some of them have been showing signs of doing that the past couple of years, which signals there's a very hard fall to come. It's just a matter of when.

The Penguins and GM Kyle Dubas cannot just keep trying to string it along and hope that their aging superstars can rally for one more big run at it. Their contracts might say they're stuck having to hope they can do it regardless, but that's why being a GM is hard. Making those tough decisions is something they should've done in Pittsburgh a couple of years ago, but neglecting it further would be malpractice.

Seattle Kraken: Unleash Shane Wright

The Seattle Kraken will be in an interesting position this offseason.

Before the trade deadline, the Kraken dealt unrestricted free agent-to-be Alexander Wennberg to the Rangers, and his departure opened a spot at center for next season.

Seattle's been restrained in free agency in previous years, and there's no reason to think it won't be again this summer considering it'll have to get restricted free agents Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen extensions.

That should open the door for Shane Wright to show what he can do at the NHL level, and not just because the 2022 No. 4 pick comes at a controlled cost.

In 53 games with Coachella Valley in the AHL, Wright has 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points. For the 20-year-old OHL phenom, that's made for a solid first year in the AHL, with more games to go yet.

Seattle's been patient with Wright, and that's a good thing, but next season should allow him to show what he's got in the NHL.