Say you're Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman. Your team is playing its best hockey of the season and trying to stay in the playoff race, and it is six days until the trade deadline. What do you do?

The Lightning head into Thursday night's home game against the Calgary Flames four points out of a wild-card spot and just five points shy of the No. 3 position in the wide-open Atlantic Division. Making up that ground is still a daunting task given all the other teams in the race, but it's also doable, because Tampa Bay has 23 games left.

The Bolts have earned points in seven consecutive games (5-0-2) as they've crept back into the playoff race.

"We've got to win a lot of games, but it's encouraging; it's exciting for everybody," Yzerman told ESPN.com on Thursday morning. "Now it's like we're playing in the playoffs. Every game is crucial."

Every game also influences potential decisions on the team's pending unrestricted free agents, including Ben Bishop and Brian Boyle -- and perhaps other trade scenarios. Mind you, the Lightning have only two games left before Wednesday's deadline. But I'm guessing they'll wait until after they host the Ottawa Senators on Monday to decide once and for all what they're doing with Bishop and Boyle. The latter, a beast of a No. 3 center with a cap-friendly number ($2 million) that other teams could easily digest, would no question be a coveted target.

But what if Tampa Bay wins its next two games? Should Yzerman hold on to Bishop and Boyle and commit fully to making a run this season? Or should it simply depend on the quality of the offers he received for them? It is indeed a tough call.

"If they suddenly decided to sell, they would have parts a lot of us would want to look at," a Western Conference team executive said this week. "But if they make the playoffs, with Steven Stamkos eventually back in the lineup, that's a team I wouldn't want to play. No way."

Stamkos has been out since November with a lateral meniscus tear that required surgery.

The Lightning might be willing to look at other trades that have nothing to do with their place in the standings. They have delicate salary-cap decisions to make this offseason. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin all need new contracts, and Victor Hedman's eight-year, $63 million contract will kick in. Tampa Bay will have to trade a player or two off its roster this summer to make room.

But if another team makes a creative offer over the next week, the Bolts could also look to start making headway in clearing cap space now, too -- although I'd bet more that the offseason is the time for that.

In the meantime, Ryan Callahan's second hip surgery means he's out for the regular season, but his absence also has opened up an extra $5.8 million under the cap if Tampa Bay needs it. The only way I see that being the case is if the Lightning somehow find their unicorn: a legit top-four defenseman who is signed past this season.

The Red Wings have no plans to deal defenseman Mike Green, but Detroit could be convinced to do so given the right offer. Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images

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