NHL Push for the Playoffs: Avalanche, Panthers in race for Presidents’ Trophy

Push for the Playoffs will run every morning through the end of the 2021-22 NHL season. We’ll highlight the current playoff picture in both conferences, take a look at what the first-round matchups might look like, see who’s leading the race for the best odds in the draft lottery and more.

Winning the Presidents’ Trophy is a great feat for a franchise. Over the course of 82 (sometimes fewer!) games your team has accumulated the most points in the NHL. You get a trophy for it and home-ice advantage for as long as you last in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

And there’s the rub. As this award has proven numerous times in its 35-season existence, regular-season success does not mean smooth sailing towards a championship. 

Of the 35 Presidents’ Trophy winners since the NHL began handing out this award in 1985-86, only eight have gone on to win the Cup. The last team to succeed was the 2012-13 Blackhawks. And only two teams have had the most regular-season points and won the title later that spring since 2002.

In recent years the Presidents’ Trophy has become a Second Round curse. Since 2013-14, only the 2014-15 Rangers advanced out of the First Round. The 2018-19 Lightning famously were swept in the First Round and six other winners were bounced in the Second Round, including the Avalanche last season.

It’s no surprise that this season Colorado is in the hunt for its fourth Presidents’ Trophy. They lead the Panthers by four points and both have less than 10 games to play. There’s a decent cushion between those two NHL powerhouses and the teams behind them. The Hurricanes are on 104 points and the Rangers and Maple Leafs stand with 102 points. Just outside the 100-point club are the Flames with 99 points and eight games remaining.

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