The NHL Presidents’ Trophy Curse: The Greatest Regular-Season Teams That Fell Short
Updated July 9, 2026
The Colorado Avalanche just gave the Presidents’ Trophy Curse debate fresh life.
Colorado finished the 2025–26 NHL regular season with the league’s best record and 121 points, only to be swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. For a team that looked built for a Stanley Cup run, it was a brutal ending.
It also extended one of the NHL’s most talked-about playoff trends: the team with the best regular-season record keeps falling short once the postseason arrives.
Fans call it the Presidents’ Trophy Curse: the idea that finishing first in the regular season somehow makes a Stanley Cup championship less likely.
But is there actually a curse, or is this just what happens in a league where seven-game playoff series can turn quickly on goaltending, injuries, matchups and momentum?
2026 update
The 2025–26 Colorado Avalanche are now part of the Presidents’ Trophy Curse conversation. They won the regular-season points race, reached the Western Conference Final, and were swept by the Vegas Golden Knights. Since the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks, 13 consecutive Presidents’ Trophy winners have failed to win the Stanley Cup.
To answer the curse question properly, let’s look at the full historical record of Presidents’ Trophy winners and how they performed in the playoffs.
The Presidents’ Trophy has been awarded since the 1985–86 NHL season to the team with the most regular-season points.
Below is every winner and their postseason result.
Season | Team | Playoff Result |
|---|---|---|
1985–86 | Edmonton Oilers | Conference Finals |
1986–87 | Edmonton Oilers | Stanley Cup Champion |
1987–88 | Calgary Flames | Stanley Cup Final |
1988–89 | Calgary Flames | Stanley Cup Champion |
1989–90 | Boston Bruins | Stanley Cup Final |
1990–91 | Chicago Blackhawks | Division Finals |
1991–92 | New York Rangers | Division Semifinals |
1992–93 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Division Finals |
1993–94 | New York Rangers | Stanley Cup Champion |
1994–95 | Detroit Red Wings | Stanley Cup Final |
1995–96 | Detroit Red Wings | Conference Finals |
1996–97 | Colorado Avalanche | Conference Finals |
1997–98 | Dallas Stars | Conference Finals |
1998–99 | Dallas Stars | Stanley Cup Champion |
1999–00 | St. Louis Blues | First Round |
2000–01 | Colorado Avalanche | Stanley Cup Champion |
2001–02 | Detroit Red Wings | Stanley Cup Champion |
2002–03 | Ottawa Senators | Conference Finals |
2003–04 | Detroit Red Wings | Second Round |
2005–06 | Detroit Red Wings | First Round |
2006–07 | Buffalo Sabres | Conference Finals |
2007–08 | Detroit Red Wings | Stanley Cup Champion |
2008–09 | San Jose Sharks | First Round |
2009–10 | Washington Capitals | First Round |
2010–11 | Vancouver Canucks | Stanley Cup Final |
2011–12 | Vancouver Canucks | First Round |
2012–13 | Chicago Blackhawks | Stanley Cup Champion |
2013–14 | Boston Bruins | Second Round |
2014–15 | New York Rangers | Conference Finals |
2015–16 | Washington Capitals | Second Round |
2016–17 | Washington Capitals | Second Round |
2017–18 | Nashville Predators | Second Round |
2018–19 | Tampa Bay Lightning | First Round |
2019–20 | Boston Bruins | Second Round |
2020–21 | Colorado Avalanche | Second Round |
2021–22 | Florida Panthers | Second Round |
2022–23 | Boston Bruins | First Round |
2023–24 | New York Rangers | Conference Finals |
2024–25 | Winnipeg Jets | Second Round |
2025–26 | Colorado Avalanche | Swept in Western Conference Final by Vegas |
Playoff outcomes compiled from NHL historical records and trophy winner lists.
If we group the results by playoff round, a pattern emerges.
Result | Number of Teams |
|---|---|
Stanley Cup Champions | 8 |
Stanley Cup Final loss | 5 |
Conference Final loss | 9 |
Second Round loss | 11 |
First Round loss | 7 |
The biggest takeaway:
Most Presidents’ Trophy winners do not collapse immediately.
Only about 18% of them lose in the first round, while many reach the conference finals or beyond.
That matters because fans remember the spectacular failures. The 2019 Lightning getting swept, the 2023 Bruins blowing a 3–1 lead, and now the 2026 Avalanche getting swept by Vegas all feed the same storyline.
But historically, Presidents’ Trophy winners still perform better than most playoff teams. The curse is not that they are bad in the playoffs. The curse is that the expectation is always Stanley Cup or failure.
The 2025–26 Avalanche were not an early-round disaster, but their exit still belongs in the curse conversation.
Colorado had the NHL’s best regular-season record, elite star power, home-ice advantage, and a roster that looked capable of winning the Stanley Cup. Instead, the Avalanche were swept by Vegas in the Western Conference Final.
That result was especially damaging because Colorado never truly controlled the series. Vegas won both games in Denver, erased a 3–0 deficit in Game 3, and then closed out the sweep in Game 4.
The Avalanche were not exposed as a bad team. They were exposed as a reminder of how thin the margin is in the NHL playoffs. One cold offensive stretch, one injured star, one hot opposing goalie, or one bad matchup can undo six months of dominance.
That is exactly why the Presidents’ Trophy Curse remains such a powerful NHL storyline.
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Even though most Presidents’ Trophy winners perform well, a handful of legendary failures have created the myth of the curse.
Here are the most infamous examples.
Regular season:
Playoffs:
This remains one of the biggest upsets in NHL history.
The Lightning had the Hart Trophy winner, the Art Ross winner, one of the best goal differentials ever, and the look of a runaway Stanley Cup favorite.
Then they lost four straight games immediately.
For many fans, this is still the defining modern example of the Presidents’ Trophy Curse.
Regular season:
Playoffs:
The Bruins had the greatest regular-season record in NHL history and still did not survive the opening round.
Boston led the series 3–1, then lost three straight games to a Florida Panthers team that eventually reached the Stanley Cup Final.
This collapse may be the most painful version of the curse because Boston did not just lose early. It lost after building both a historic season and a commanding series lead.
Regular season:
Playoffs:
The 2010 Capitals were built around firepower and regular-season dominance, but they ran into a classic playoff spoiler: a hot goalie.
Jaroslav Halak became the face of the upset, and Washington’s high-powered offense could not finish the job.
This series is one of the clearest examples of why regular-season superiority does not always translate cleanly into playoff success.
Regular season:
Playoffs:
The Sharks had been Cup contenders for years, but their playoff struggles continued.
San Jose’s loss to Anaheim reinforced a familiar criticism of Presidents’ Trophy teams: regular-season depth and consistency are valuable, but they do not guarantee the ability to survive a nasty playoff matchup.
Regular season:
Playoffs:
The 2012 Canucks entered the playoffs as the NHL’s top regular-season team, but they ran into a Kings team that became one of the most dangerous low seeds in NHL history.
Los Angeles went on to win the Stanley Cup as an eighth seed, which makes the Vancouver loss look less embarrassing in hindsight. Still, it remains another key piece of the curse narrative.
Despite the data, the myth persists for several reasons.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs use seven-game series, but that does not remove randomness.
Factors that can change a series quickly include:
Even dominant teams can lose quickly when two or three of those factors turn against them.
That is what makes the NHL different from some other sports. The best team can be better over 82 games and still lose a short series because the playoff environment is completely different.
Since the NHL introduced the salary cap in 2005, roster balance has improved across the league.
That means the gap between the best team and a dangerous lower seed is often smaller than the standings suggest.
Dominant dynasties are harder to sustain. Deep rosters are harder to keep together. And when the playoffs begin, a Presidents’ Trophy winner may face an opponent with enough elite talent, structure and goaltending to turn the series into a coin flip.
Human psychology plays a role.
People remember:
They forget the many cases where Presidents’ Trophy winners made deep runs.
The curse feels stronger than the numbers because the failures are louder than the normal outcomes.
If the Presidents’ Trophy were truly cursed, we would expect the NHL’s best regular-season team to perform worse than other playoff seeds.
But the historical record suggests the opposite.
Seed Type | Cup Win Rate |
|---|---|
1st overall, Presidents’ Trophy winner | 20% |
Other top seeds | Lower than Presidents’ Trophy winners |
Middle seeds | Lower than top seeds |
Lowest seeds | Rare Stanley Cup winners |
In other words:
The Presidents’ Trophy winner is still statistically one of the most likely teams to win the Stanley Cup.
It fails most of the time, but so does every other team.
With 16 playoff teams, the odds are always stacked against any single club. Winning the Presidents’ Trophy improves a team’s position, but it does not come close to guaranteeing a championship.
One thing fueling the curse narrative is the recent drought.
The last team to win both the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup was the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks.
Since then:
That streak now includes several elite teams:
If even one of those teams had finished the job, the curse narrative would feel much weaker.
Instead, the drought keeps growing. Colorado’s 2026 sweep did not create the Presidents’ Trophy Curse, but it made the debate feel current again.
Only eight teams have won both the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup.
They include some of the most legendary rosters in NHL history:
These teams tended to share one trait:
Elite playoff experience, high-end stars, and the ability to win tight series when regular-season dominance no longer mattered.
That is the real challenge for Presidents’ Trophy winners. They have already proven they can win over 82 games. The question is whether they can adapt when every opponent is built specifically to stop them.
The data tells a clear story.
The Presidents’ Trophy Curse is mostly a myth created by memorable failures.
In reality:
Colorado’s 2026 sweep by Vegas is the latest reminder that regular-season dominance does not protect a team once the playoffs begin.
The Avalanche were not cursed because they won the Presidents’ Trophy. They were beaten by a playoff opponent that handled the biggest moments better.
That is the most honest verdict.
The Presidents’ Trophy Curse is not literally real. But in the NHL, where the best regular-season team has now gone 13 straight seasons without winning the Stanley Cup, it is easy to understand why the myth refuses to die.
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