The NHL Presidents' Trophy has been awarded to the team with the best regular-season record since 1986.
One thing we've learned about this prestigious honor is that it’s just that — a regular-season award that guarantees absolutely nothing in the postseason.
Over the past decade, the refrain has been the same: "The Presidents' Trophy winner is cursed! So what if they have 100+ points — wait until the playoffs."
The Current Contender
The last time a Presidents' Trophy winner actually won the Stanley Cup was the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2013. The current 11-year drought is the longest since the inception of the award – something the Winnipeg Jets hope they can break in their upcoming playoff campaign.
The Rangers last year made it all the way to the Conference Finals as the Presidents' Trophy winner, breaking an 8-year streak of the best team in the NHL losing in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Only eight times has the Presidents' Trophy winner also won the Stanley Cup, with the Rangers completing the task back in 1993-94. The Jets are winners of the best regular season record for the first time, as the Jets and as the Atlanta Thrashers beforehand.
The Jets were able to maintain the level necessary to rack up the highest wins (56) and points (116) totals in franchise history this year — so this team can compete with the best of the best.
The Curse
The Jets ended the season with 116 points – which may be a good thing considering the history we've seen with the real dominant teams entering the playoffs recently.
Seven Presidents' Trophy winners have earned 120+ points. Four lost in the first round, two made it to the second round, and only one reached the conference finals.
With the Rangers making the Conference Finals last year, we haven't had back-to-back Presidents' Trophy winners advance to at least the Conference Finals since 2007 and 2008 with the Sabres and Red Wings.
It's important to note that the "Presidents' Trophy Curse" is only a more recent phenomenon. Since the Blackhawks won in 2013, the 11 winners have won a total of only 11 playoff series combined.
Before that, Presidents' Trophy winners averaged just over two series wins per year, with eight Stanley Cup champions in 27 seasons and 11 total Final appearances.
One interesting note about the Presidents' Trophy winners' struggles is conference-related. Of the seven franchises with a Stanley Cup win entering the playoffs with the Presidents' Trophy tag, six came out of the Western Conference and only one came from the East: the 1993-94 New York Rangers.
The only other Eastern Conference team to even make the Stanley Cup Final with this distinction was the Boston Bruins back in 1990.
The Betting Background
The Jets have 56 wins entering the playoffs, which puts them in a class of just 11 teams to win the Presidents' Trophy with 55 wins or more – unfortunately for Winnipeg, none of those previous ten teams even made the Stanley Cup Final, with just two making the Conference Finals (1996 Detroit Red Wings and last year's New York Rangers). Those ten teams combined to win just nine playoff series, too.
Winnipeg entered the regular season with +2800 odds to win the Stanley Cup. In the 39-year history of the Presidents' Trophy, only five other teams opened the season with +2800 odds or higher and ended up winning the prestigious regular season award – those were the 2000 Blues (+3000), 2023 Bruins (+2800), 1992 Rangers (+2500), 2022 Panthers (+2200) and 2024 Rangers (+2000).
If you look through history, only eight teams have won the Presidents' Trophy with higher than +1500 preseason odds, and each of those eight teams won a total of eight playoff series, with only two making the Conference Finals — the 2015 and 2024 New York Rangers.
Finally, it's worth looking at the odds as of now. Entering the playoffs, the Jets are currently +1000 to win the Stanley Cup – that would be the biggest price for a Presidents' Trophy winner in the history of the distinction. The second highest price? The 2024 Rangers last year who entered the playoffs at +800.
