The excitement of the NHL season is starting to build for some fan bases.

As we get closer to the halfway point, it’s becoming clearer which teams could be real Stanley Cup contenders. If you’re a fan of the Bruins, Hurricanes or Devils, there’s reason to believe. And plenty of others are right there behind them, looking like playoff teams or like they’ll at least be in the mix.

And then there are the fan bases whose hopes for 2022-23 are nearly decimated already. Thirty-plus games in, it’s also become pretty apparent which teams have little to no shot at the playoffs.

The silver lining for those fans is the 2023 draft. The expected top pick, Connor Bedard, is projected to be a generational talent. And even if your loser team isn’t fortunate enough to land the No. 1 pick, there are a handful of other players who are projected to be future stars, as well. Adam Fantilli, Matvei Michkov and Leo Carlsson are all thought to be good enough that they could be No. 1 picks in other years.

The NHL’s lottery system gives the worst team the best odds of receiving the No. 1 pick, but it doesn’t guarantee that selection. The lottery did present the No. 1 pick to the worst team in the past two lotteries, but it did not in 2020. Finishing last does guarantee a top-three pick, and in the next draft, that’s huge.

With the league’s holiday break starting Saturday, this feels like the ideal time to take a closer look at the teams that have a realistic shot at increasing their odds for Bedard and company. Right now, it appears to be a six-team race, between the Blackhawks, Ducks, Blue Jackets, Sharks, Coyotes and Flyers.

Can those teams pull off a tank? Do they want to? How will the trade deadline play into who goes in which direction? Who needs Bedard the most?