Colorado Avalanche clinch 2026 Presidents’ Trophy

With their win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night at Ball Arena, the Colorado Avalanche have clinched the Presidents’ Trophy as the best team in the NHL in the regular season.

Gabriel Landeskog got the scoring started as the Avalanche went on to beat the Flames by a 3-1 margin, picking up their 52nd win and 114th point of the season.

With the win, the Avs ensured that the Carolina Hurricanes, the last remaining team in the running for the Presidents’ Trophy, would not be able to surpass them in the league wide standings.

It’s been a wire-to-wire run for Colorado this season, as the group got off to one of the best starts in NHL history. On New Year’s Day, they owned a 30-2-7 record, setting them up for a chance to push for the 2022-23 Boston Bruins’ record for points in the standings with 135.

The Avs cooled off as the year wore on, but the cushion they built up made it so that even two of the other top teams in the NHL in division rivals Dallas and Minnesota were unable to seriously threaten their lead.

Powered by outstanding efforts from Nathan MacKinnon (leads the NHL in goals), Martin Necas (new career-high in points) and Cale Makar (third straight season with at least 75 points), Colorado has maintained its status as one of the fastest and most offensively threatening teams in the league.

The Avalanche clinched both the Central Division title and the top seed in the Western Conference earlier this week, meaning they’re already guaranteed to play whichever team claims the second wild card spot in the West.

The opportunity to face the Avs will come down to a closely-contested race to the finish line with the Nashville Predators, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets still in the running.

Colorado will look to capture their second Stanley Cup in the past five years, and if they do, they would become the first Presidents’ Trophy winner to prevail in the postseason since the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks.