The Presidents’ Trophy goes to the team that finishes the season with the most points.
While the honor remains an impressive achievement, fans don’t necessarily look forward to receiving it. That's because since the award was first handed out in the 1985-86 season, its winners haven’t found much post-season success.
In fact, only eight teams have won both the Presidents' Trophy and the Stanley Cup. The last time it happened was in 2012-13, when the Chicago Blackhawks finished the lockout-shortened season with 36 wins and 77 points in 48 games and then defeated the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup final.
In the past 11 years, no team that has won the Presidents’ Trophy has even made it to the Stanley Cup final — much less win.
Here’s a look at the current Presidents’ Trophy odds favorites at the BetMGM online sportsbook.
CAROLINA HURRICANES +325
The Hurricanes came close to winning the Presidents' Trophy last season, when they finished second in the league standings, en route to their Stanley Cup win. They eventually finished just eight points behind the eventual winner, the Colorado Avalanche.
This year, the defending champions have found a decent recipe for being a regular-season points machine: scoring depth mixed with a great goaltending, while playing in a somewhat weaker Metropolitan Division.
With a league-best 11-2-2 record and 24 points — three more than the next-best Minnesota Wild — the Hurricanes remain the team to beat.
EDMONTON OILERS +625
Edmonton is a bit behind Carolina for the second-best odds.
With a Pacific Division-leading 9-2-2 record, the Oilers are currently one point back of the Wild for second-place in the Western Conference standings. The interesting thing is they are 4-2-2 at home, but a perfect 5-0 on the road.
And with a three-game road trip beginning on Saturday against the New York Islanders, the Oilers will try to keep that momentum going.
COLORADO AVALANCHE +775
Last year’s Presidents' Trophy winner, which eventually fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference final, is currently tied for third in the odds table.
A slow start (by Colorado's standards) might be behind the odds. The Avalanche, who only had one regulation loss in the first month of last season, are 7-5-1 out of the gates and tied for seventh in the Western Conference.
Of course, when you have Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar leading the offense, it would be silly to count them out.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING +775
The Lightning are tied with the Avalanche for the third-best odds. And with an 8-3-1 record, it's not difficult to see why.
Tampa Bay is ranked third in the highly competitive Atlantic Division and tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference standings. They are also a perfect 6-0-0 at home, but 2-3-1 on the road.
The last — and only — time that the Lightning won the Presidents' Trophy was in 2018-19, when the team went 62-16-4 and tied an NHL-record with 128 points. Of course, that was also the year when they got swept in the first round.
So maybe leading the league again in points is not exactly something they want to do again.