The NHL began handing out the Presidents' Trophy to the team with the best regular-season record beginning in the 1985-86 campaign. In its history, it has been awarded 37 times to 18 clubs.
Those teams have been anything but a shoo-in to win the Stanley Cup, however. Just two clubs in the salary cap era (since 2005-06) have won the Presidents' Trophy and hoisted the Stanley Cup: the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings and the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks. Two of the past six Presidents' Trophy winners have lost in the first round.
So, that's the challenge ahead for whomever claims the trophy this season.