The Arizona Coyotes are in the worst possible spot an NHL team can find themselves in.
They missed the playoffs on the last weekend of the season, and did not fare well in the draft lottery.
That is the worst case scenario: Not good enough to make the playoffs, not bad enough to draft high.
Every once in a while a team finds a Nikita Kucherov in the second round, or picks Erik Karlsson or Anze Kopitar with a mid-first round pick.
But most of the time, if you can't draft in the top three, you can't get yourself a franchise player.
And that is what the Coyotes need most.
Nick Schmaltz, Christian Dvorak, Clayton Keller, Jakub Chychrun, Christian Fischer and Barrett Hayton are a halfway decent young core.
But unless Hayton or Keller take as of yet unsuspected steps in their development, this team is still in need of a franchise player.
That is why the Coyotes draft pick must be in play.
Could some kind of first round pick, an unprotected lottery pick next year and one of the team's prospects or young players get them a franchise level player?
Maybe. At least something approximating one.
A dream scenario would be to augment what the Coyotes have without touching the roster by signing Artemi Panarin and then trading for Phil Kessel.
But if you're a Coyotes fan, you probably don't dream that big.
Either way, the Coyotes in No Man's Land, so they're going to have to get creative and make something happen.
If you can put two first liners on the pre-existing lineup, I think you might have something special, so let's just see what happens.
I don't believe the team will continue to play for the future. The future is now.
Sure, better luck in the lottery would have helped, as would making the Playoffs. But you can't change any of that, and it's on John Chayka to prove his worth.
He probably has to have something tangible to prove his worth sooner than later, so it's time for him to make some big moves.