Stock Up, Stock Down for NHL Teams Fighting for Western Conference Playoff Spots

Five points separate the six teams that are battling for the final four spots in the Western Conference, and nobody has any idea what's going to happen between now and the end of the season.

Seriously. That's not an exaggeration. Nobody on Earth has the foggiest idea of how the bottom of the West will shake out. The California Golden Seals could earn the final wild-card spot, and most people would shrug and pick them to beat the Anaheim Ducks in the first round.

That doesn't mean we can't size up the candidates.

Who's on the rise? Who's looking good? Who's heading in the wrong direction?

We will take a look at these six teams and say nice or mean things about them.

Stock Up: Minnesota Wild

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Position: Fifth place, 81 points, 15 games remaining

Why they will get in: Here's a sentence that's been written hundreds of times: The Wild have been red-hot since acquiring Devan Dubnyk from the Coyotes for a third-round pick. They are 19-4-2 since Jan. 15 and rank fifth in Fenwick at 53 percent. Adding a goaltender who can make saves to a team that controls possession has done wonders.

Why they won't get in: Dubnyk has started 25 straight games, so it's possible exhaustion and/or fatigue become an issue for a goaltender who started 29 total games last season and 37 in 2013. Thirteen of their remaining 15 games are against teams in playoff spots, and one of the two non-playoff teams is Winnipeg, which is breathing down their necks. Despite the two-month hot streak, the Wild have a thin margin for error.

Stock Down: Vancouver Canucks

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Position: Sixth place, 80 points, 15 games remaining

Why they will get in: Luckily for the Canucks, the Pacific Division has to send three teams to the playoffs, and if we agree (and we should) that Anaheim and Los Angeles are the division's two best teams, Vancouver has the strongest case for being No. 3. The one thing the Canucks have going for them is a forgiving remaining schedule: They face Toronto, Philadelphia, Columbus, Edmonton, Dallas, Colorado and Arizona twice.

Why they won't get in: No Ryan Miller for two-to-three more weeks. However, he (.913) may be an inferior option to Eddie Lack (.918), so maybe Miller's knee injury is a blessing in disguise. Since the All-Star break, the Canucks are at just 49.8 percent in Fenwick, according to war-on-ice, and that leaves them vulnerable, even if it's against some of the league's bottom feeders the rest of the way.

Stock Down: Calgary Flames

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Position: Seventh place, 79 points, 15 games remaining

Why they will get in: They have discovered a new way of playing successful hockey: be the third-worst possession team in the league yet shoot and score at a ridiculously high rate. The remaining schedule has a handful of potential layups, including games with Toronto, Philadelphia, Columbus, Edmonton and Arizona. 

Why they won't get in: Since 2007-08, 15 teams have had a Fenwick below 46 percent over an 82-game season, and just one (Anaheim, 2010-11, 45.1 percent) reached the postseason. The Flames are 45.5 percent with 16 games to go. Mark Giordano is out for the season. There's almost zero explaining how the Flames are still in playoff contention in mid-March.

Stock Up: Los Angeles Kings

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Position: Eighth place, 79 points, 15 games remaining

Why they will get in: The Kings are 12-3-1 in their past 16 games and playing all-round excellent hockey. Adding Andrej Sekera at the trade deadline improved the back end, so really this is just the modus operandi for the Kings: start slow, get it going with about 20 games to play, pick up a needed player at the deadline and get to the postseason.

Why they won't get in: Maybe this is the year the horse breaks late but too late to get into a playoff spot. Considering how close they are to the teams ahead and behind them and that they are now in a position where they control their own destiny, the Kings would have to go hard into the tank to fall out, but stranger things have happened.

Stock Down: Winnipeg Jets

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Position: Ninth place, 78 points, 14 games remaining

Why they will get in: The Jets have been a model of consistency in the possession game for most of the season and have only dipped below the cut-off line because of a rough goaltending stretch since the All-Star Game. One point out with 14 games to play isn't dire times, and all they need is Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson to regain their form of earlier in the year.

Why they won't get in: Wait, this team may need to rely on Pavelec to play well for a month? And this is without Dustin Byfuglien for potentially three more weeks with a lower-body injury? And with 12 teams in playoff position on the schedule the rest of the season? There are a lot of potential roadblocks on the Jets' path back to a wild-card spot.

Stock Up and Down: San Jose Sharks

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Position: 10th place, 76 points, 14 games remaining

Why they will get in: What a team. The Sharks looked dead, but then they won four of five to get themselves back within striking distance. There are reasons why the Sharks have made the playoffs every year since 2004, and two of them are Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. The Sharks have the talent to close strong.

Why they won't get in: Thornton on Friday fired back at general manager Doug Wilson, who stripped Thornton of the captaincy last summer. As covered at the San Jose Mercury News, Wilson answered questions at a fan festival Thursday; on Friday, he responded by saying, "Doug needs to shut his mouth." Between that looming distraction, the Sharks' lack of forward depth and turnover machine Brent Burns on defense, who the heck knows what the Sharks will do in their final 14 games.

Note: All statistics via NHL.com or Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com.