SAN JOSE, Calif. — Honestly, you cannot be serious if you’re calling this taffy-pull for the final playoff spot in the East as a, “race.”

What it is, as the Rangers, Canadiens, Islanders, Jackets and Red Wings have spent weeks defining themselves as imposters, is simply an exercise of attrition.

Least-bad and most mediocre team wins.

And at this very moment, the Blueshirts — yes, those wild and crazy Blueshirts — are that team. Well, at least for the moment.

The Rangers claimed temporary possession of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot off Saturday’s 6-1 victory over the Sharks in the team’s best performance in two weeks.

They were attentive to detail, they attacked from the get-go, they got bodies and pucks to the net, their compete level was exemplary and they avoided the egregious breakdowns that way too often have ruined their nights.

Plus, they received outstanding performances from Artemi Panarin, who scored twice in the first period for his 32nd and 33rd goals of the season and ninth and 10th over the past 15 games; from Adam Fox, who has elevated his play while notching his fifth and sixth goals in 12 games after; and from Jonathan Quick, masterful in his first start in three weeks, claiming his 403d career victory to pull the Connecticut Yankee into a tie with Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr for 13th all-time.

As a result, the Blueshirts nosed into the final conference berth with 77 points, two up on Montreal and Columbus and three up on the Islanders and Detroit though their competitors all hold at least a game in hand.

The Rangers have eight games to go, the Wings have nine, and the Jackets, Habs and Islanders each have 10 games remaining in the regular season that ends on April 17.

But there is another interesting scenario regarding the Rangers and their overall position in the standings as it relates to this year’s first-round draft pick that was sent conditionally to Vancouver in the J.T. Miller deal before the Canucks transferred it to the Penguins.

Chris Drury (right) and the Rangers could have an interesting draft pick decision to soon make. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

The pick is top-13 protected so that if the Rangers finish 20th overall or lower, general manager Chris Drury has the option of keeping the 2025 selection and giving Pittsburgh next year’s first-rounder without qualification.

The Blueshirts left California 14th from the bottom of the league. Per lottery regulations adopted in 2021, teams only can move up 10 spots in the order.

Thus, the teams with the league’s 11 worst records would qualify for the first-overall selection lottery.

If the Rangers finish 11th-worst, they would have a 3.0-percent chance to claim the first overall selection, now projected to be either Boston College’s James Hagens or OHL Erie’s Matthew Schaefer.

J.T. Miller came over in a trade this season. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

The lottery will be held during the early rounds of the playoffs.

If a bottom-13, Drury has until 48 hours before the draft to notify Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas whether the Blueshirts are keeping the pick or sending it to the Penguins.

The puzzle confronting Drury is that next year’s draft class is, by all accounts, has more upper-echelon prospects and would present a deeper field.

It is supposed to be loaded. And again, the 2026 pick would be unprotected, meaning that if the Rangers finish toward the bottom of the league, they might lose a top-five selection.

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But if Drury decides to move the selection to the Penguins this year, is the general manager sending the message that he expects an even worse 2025-26 than this diseased season?

Would this be interpreted that way?

Everything the hierarchy does apparently is taken personally by this group of sensitive souls, so there is that ramification to consider—though the group is going to be dramatically different next year.

Oh and there is this: 2003 represented the deepest and most loaded first round in the history of the draft.

Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas looks on at the 2024
NHL Draft. NHLI via Getty Images

Jeff Carter went 11th, Dustin Brown went 13th, Zach Parise went 17th, Ryan Getzlaf went 19th, Brent Burns 20th, Ryan Kesler 23d, Mike Richards 24th and Corey Perry 28th.

The Rangers, bless their hearts, came away with Hugh Jessiman after selecting the Rangers fan from Dartmouth 12th overall.

Which means that there are no sure things when it comes to loaded draft classes.

Drury has the obligation to protect the Rangers future every bit as much as the present.

Hugh Jessiman was taken by the Rangers in the 2003 NHL Draft. AP

Goodness gracious, what if the Rangers crash next season and are scraping the bottom of the league and wind up sacrificing a top-three or top-five pick that would go to the Penguins?

That would be the narrative.

There would be an uproar.

Drury has myriad difficult decisions to confront, starting with the call on whether to retain head coach Peter Laviolette and his staff.

This would be one of them.

Of course, the Rangers could make the playoffs and take the decision off the GM’s plate.

Of course.