The Presidents' Trophy (French: Trophée des présidents) is an award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL) to the team that finishes with the most points (i.e., best overall record) during the regular season.

[1] As the team with the best regular season record, the Presidents' Trophy winner is normally guaranteed home-ice advantage throughout the entire Stanley Cup playoffs.

Prior to this, the team that finished in first place when the regular season concluded was allowed to hang a banner reading "NHL League Champions.

Five teams (Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks) are tied for fourth most with two Presidents' Trophy wins apiece.

A cash bonus of $350,000 was awarded to the winning team with the NHL's best regular season record during these years, to which the Presidents' Trophy was added in 1985–86.

[8][9][10][11] In addition, eight Presidents' Trophy winners have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, with first-round upsets being common in the NHL compared to other major professional sports.

[6] The Presidents' Trophy winner may have to go through other playoff clubs who might have a hotter goaltender, a better defensive team or other players that pose match-up problems.

[6] The lack of playoff experience may have been to blame in the examples of the 1999–2000 St. Louis Blues and 2008–09 San Jose Sharks, as neither team had advanced past the second round for five or more seasons.

Teams have often given up pursuit of finishing first in the League in order to avoid injuries and rest key players for the postseason.

[15] Ian Cooper, writing for the Toronto Star, noted that "of 11 Presidents' Trophy winners to lose in the first two rounds, seven came from divisions that were among the league's weaker half ...

If a team dominates a weak division, its shortcomings should become apparent once it faces stiffer competition from the rest of the conference".

By contrast, the Lightning had made several deep playoff runs in the previous seasons (including a Cup Finals appearance in 2015).