Welcome to Cucks in Deep, a weekly right-wing (hockey term!) hockey column about all of the conspiracies and news going on in the world of hockey that the NHL and other leagues don’t want you to know about and the lamestream media are too afraid to report on. But not us.

As the NHL season continues along, the playoff picture has started to come into focus a little bit more, and for the NHL and its marketing team, it is looking like bad news, especially for the Western Conference.

If the playoffs started today, just two of the Original 6 would be in the playoffs, and of the four Original 6 teams who are on the outside looking in, three of them are so far buried that there is pretty much no chance that they find their way in a playoff spot when the season does end.

But it’s not just the Original 6 teams that are bad news for the NHL and potential playoff TV ratings, the Western Conference looks like a disaster zone. Chicago is 10 points out, the LA Kings are not in a playoff spot but are just one point out, and the Edmonton Oilers, featuring the league’s most exciting player in Connor McDavid are dead in the water, 16 points back of a playoff spot. That leaves Nashville  as the premier team currently in a playoff spot in the West, and maybe Vegas, who would be a heck of a story for even casual fans to keep an eye on in the playoffs.

The East is in better shape, with Pittsburgh, Washington, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Toronto, and Boston all in playoff spots at the moment, that’s a pretty strong group.

So what does this all mean for those teams that likely aren’t going to the playoffs come the spring/summer? It means that the NHL is 100 percent going to rid the NHL Draft this summer.

And why not? The league has no idea how to market any teams that aren’t the Original 6, or one of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, or Washington, so there is no way the NHL lets four of its premier teams be bad for long, especially in a year that is being called one of the deepest drafts ever, and has two absolute stud prospects waiting at the top.

Gee, wouldn’t it be strange if say the Blackhawks or Red Wings “somehow” ended up with Rasmus Dahlin, who some people are comparing to Bobby Orr? Not at all. The Red Wings have a brand new arena and one of the biggest fan bases across the country, you can see the dots lining up already. Same goes for Chicago, minus the new arena part. Or maybe Montreal needs a new star defenseman, or forward with Andrei Svechnikov also available? Same goes for the Rangers, who the NHL would love to be dominant in the nation’s longest TV market.

We’ve already covered the Oilers in this space. What better way to get McDavid back in the spotlight than gifting him another star player to play along side?

Hmmm or maybe the Islanders, who are getting a new arena in a couple of years, will find their way to the top of the lottery and have both a star to fill seats AND to keep John Tavares in town. It’s so obvious, sheeple.

So while most of the NHL’s favorite teams might be sitting home this summer, don’t expect that to last long if the league has its way, and it likely all starts this year when they rig the NHL Draft to help one or more of these floundering franchises.