go look at past drafts, you are far from guaranteed an elite player in the 3-10 range.
there are a lot of average players in that range.
Even if they don't make the playoffs, might as well play some fun hockey down the stretch as well as giving Suzuki, Kotkaniemi, Mete, Fleury, etc.. the experience of playing in high pressure games which will be valuable to development. As long as there is a chance, I can't cheer for the team to lose... when they are officially out of it, fine, but not now.