NHL playoff watch: Who's winning the Presidents' Trophy?

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With less than a month remaining in the NHL regular season, there are six teams within 10 points at the top of the league standings vying for the Presidents' Trophy, which is awarded to the team with the best regular-season record. The Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, and Buffalo Sabres are all in contention, but only two Presidents' Trophy winners in the salary cap era have gone on to win the Stanley Cup.

Why it matters

Winning the Presidents' Trophy provides a team with home-ice advantage for as long as they last in the playoffs, but it's no guarantee of postseason success. Two of the past seven Presidents' Trophy winners have lost in the first round, so the race for the top overall seed is an important one but doesn't necessarily translate to playoff dominance.

The details

According to Stathletes projections, the Avalanche are currently projected to finish with the most points (117.3), followed by the Stars (112.5), Canes (110.1), Lightning (108.1), Wild (106.4) and Sabres (105.8). However, with about 15 games remaining for each team, the standings could still shift significantly before the regular season concludes on April 16.

• The NHL has awarded the Presidents' Trophy to the team with the best regular-season record since the 1985-86 season.
• In the salary cap era (since 2005-06), only two teams have won the Presidents' Trophy then gone on to win the Stanley Cup: the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings and the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks.
• There are less than a month remaining in the 2026 NHL regular season, which concludes on April 16.