Jon Cooper says he typically doesn't pay attention to the standings this early in the season. But this year, he's made an exception.

The Tampa Bay Lightning coach has been looking. And part of him cannot believe what he sees — particularly in the Eastern Conference, where jockeying for a playoff spot has never been this difficult.

Or this easy, depending on how your view of things.

As of Tuesday, the New York Rangers were clinging to the final wild-card spot in the East. On one hand, they were five points back of the first-place Washington Capitals. On the other, they were four points ahead of the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators, who remain tied with the second-fewest points in the conference.

Call it parity, if you want. But all it means is that no team has been able to find consistency.

Tampa Bay is a perfect example of this.

The Lightning started the season with just one win in its first seven games, only to go on a five-game winning streak. Now, after riding another seven-game winning streak, they head into Montreal on Tuesday night having dropped four games in a row.

And yet, the Lightning were only one point back of the Atlantic Division-leading Detroit Red Wings, who are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.

"I'm not a big standings-watcher, to be honest, until we start getting halfway (in the season), after Christmas, January and then you're taking a peek," Cooper told The Hockey News following a 2-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. "But it's been a different year, where top-to-bottom there's not that mass separation. I think Colorado might be the only team that's kind of taking off. But other than that, these playoff races are going to go down to the end.

"Anyone who says these numbers are 96 (points) to get in. It's going to be more like 86 (points) is going to get you in."

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Last season, it took 91 points to qualify for the playoffs in the East and 96 points to get in the West.

The last time a team qualified for the playoffs in a full 82-game season with less than 90 points was in 2015-16, when the Minnesota Wild secured the second wild-card spot in the West with 87 points.

With 34 points in 31 games, the Rangers are on pace for 89.9 points this season. It’s a far cry from 2021-22, when all eight playoff teams in the East had 100 or more points.

So what gives? With the exception of Colorado and Dallas, who are on pace for 136 and 123 points, respectively, why haven't more teams been able to distance themselves from the pack?

Well, injuries have certainly played a part.

It seems like every team has been dealt a significant blow when it comes to missing key players.

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Florida, which won back-to-back Stanley Cups but are currently tied for the second-worst record in the East, have been without captain Aleksander Barkov and left winger Matthew Tkachuk. Ottawa, which is tied with Florida, recently got back captain Brady Tkachuk after missing 20 games.

On Monday night, both the Lighting and the Maple Leafs were without their starting goalies. Toronto was also without its backup goalie, as well as defensemen Chris Tanev and Brandon Carlo. Not to be outdone, Tampa Bay has been without defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak.

No wonder the order of the standings appear to be changing each and every night, with no clear idea as to who will make the playoffs when all is said and done. 

"I feel like so far this year, everybody's been beating everybody almost," said Lightning goalie Jonas Johansson. "It's a long year and we've got to get back on track here so we can keep competing with other teams."

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