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When Carlyle was fired less than four weeks ago, Toronto was still in a playoff spot. Now the Leafs are in line to select eighth overall in the NHL Entry Draft. They are only four points away from moving into the top-5, where winning a chance at Connor McDavid in the lottery becomes more realistic.

With 32 games remaining that might be all there is for Leafs fans to hope for.

Toronto, which is 11 points back of the Boston Bruins for the final wildcard, is not going to make the playoffs. Not with the way the Leafs have been playing. Since Horachek was named interim head coach, they have scored just 14 goals in 10 games. During that span, they have allowed 33 goals.

“We’re struggling,” said Phil Kessel, who scored his first even-strength goal in six weeks. “I thought we had some chances. You’re up 1-0 and you have to get that second one. We were just unable to find it tonight.”

With the trade deadline about a month away, teams are startling to circle the Leafs like vultures hoping to pick off any players who might be able to help them. On Thursday, scouts representing 10 teams were on hand to see two sellers — the Coyotes are in 27th place — on March 2.

What they saw from Toronto was not promising.

The Coyotes outshot the Leafs 45-25 and played as though they were auditioning for jobs with different teams. The Leafs, meanwhile, looked like they were trying to get their second coach fired in less than a month. They went 0-for-3 on the power play, relied heavily on their goaltender for game-saving stops and treated the game as though nothing was really on the line.