Avalanche Clinch 2026 NHL Playoffs: Presidents' Trophy Race Heating Up with 14 Games Left

Colorado Makes History — and the Race Gets More Interesting

The Colorado Avalanche became the first NHL team to clinch a 2026 playoff berth on Friday, March 20, finishing off a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks to push their season total past 100 points. It's a milestone that reflects what the Avalanche have been all season: the most consistently dominant team in the league.

But the clinch is just one part of the story. With 14 games remaining, Colorado is now targeting something more valuable than a playoff spot — they're chasing the Presidents' Trophy, which goes to the team with the best regular-season record in the NHL. And the competition to get there has turned into a genuine six-team race that has made the final month of the regular season must-watch hockey.

Where Things Stand

Colorado's current points pace projects them to finish the season at approximately 120 points. That would be a remarkable regular-season achievement. However, the Dallas Stars have gotten hot, and the gap has compressed to just four points in the Central Division. Here's the full Presidents' Trophy leaderboard entering March 22:

Teams in contention with projected finishing points (per Stathletes):

Colorado Avalanche: 117.3 projected points

Dallas Stars: 112.5

Carolina Hurricanes: 110.1

Tampa Bay Lightning: 108.1

Minnesota Wild: 106.4

Buffalo Sabres: 105.8

Six teams within roughly 12 points of each other. Every game from here through April 16 — the final day of the regular season — carries real weight.

Why the Presidents' Trophy Actually Matters in 2026

There's a faction of hockey analysts who dismiss the Presidents' Trophy as largely meaningless because playoff outcomes don't always follow regular-season order. That skepticism is defensible historically, but misses the point of betting on it.

The real value of tracking the Presidents' Trophy race is the downstream implications: home ice advantage in the first round, matchup control in playoff seeding, and — critically for bettors — Stanley Cup futures pricing. The team that wins the Presidents' Trophy will almost certainly be installed as a short favorite for the Cup, and positioning in Cup futures markets before that happens is one of the sharper timing plays in hockey betting.

Colorado's current Stanley Cup odds have shortened significantly since the season started. If you were on the Avalanche early in the year, congratulations. The question now is whether the remaining value justifies adding or holding.

Breaking Down the Contenders

Colorado Avalanche: The benchmark. Their offense has been elite all season and their goaltending has been the quiet driver — below-average save percentage teams don't reach 100 points by mid-March. The schedule down the stretch features several Central Division opponents still fighting for playoff spots, which means motivated opponents but also games that have meaning. Their four-point cushion over Dallas is real but not comfortable.

Dallas Stars: The hottest team in the Central over the past three weeks. Dallas has the personnel to make a genuine run at Colorado, particularly if the Avalanche have any injury issues. The Stars' structure under their coaching staff makes them one of the more dangerous potential first-round opponents for anyone in the West — a fact that affects how bettors should price both Cup futures and head-to-head matchups.

Carolina Hurricanes: Commanding the Metropolitan Division at 90 points, the Hurricanes are a machine. They're unlikely to catch Colorado but their positioning at third overall — potentially second with a strong finish — affects the entire Eastern Conference playoff bracket and subsequent Cup futures pricing.

Tampa Bay Lightning: At 108.1 projected points, Tampa represents a genuine title contender that gets underpriced in narratives dominated by the newer stars. Their experience in high-leverage playoff games is an asset that regular-season points don't fully capture.

Buffalo Sabres: The most interesting storyline in the group. The Sabres are in first in the Atlantic Division at 88 points — a franchise resurgence after years of lottery positioning. Buffalo's market in Stanley Cup futures has moved meaningfully and there is still value in how their odds are priced relative to teams with deeper recent playoff experience.

Betting and DFS Angles

Presidents' Trophy futures: Colorado is the short favorite but at four points over Dallas with 14 games left, this is not a lock. If Dallas is priced at +250 or better, the Stars represent genuine value as the second-most likely outcome.

Stanley Cup futures: The current market hierarchy — Colorado, followed by Carolina and Tampa — reflects regular-season performance. First-round matchups will reprice the market sharply. Identify where your preferred team lands in the bracket and evaluate futures before that structure is finalized.

DFS plays for late-season NHL: Teams fighting to maintain first-place seeding and home-ice advantage in early April games consistently outperform their DFS pricing. Colorado, Dallas, and Carolina all have motivation to keep winning — their core players are better DFS values in March-April than their base-rate statistics suggest.

Player prop angles: On nights when Colorado, Dallas, or Carolina face teams already eliminated from playoff contention — with little motivation and depleted rosters — over/under totals on power play production and shots on goal consistently lean toward the motivated team. The market doesn't always price this correctly.

What to Watch Over the Final 14 Games

The direct matchup between Colorado and Dallas will be critical. If the Stars can take two of three against the Avalanche in the final stretch, the Presidents' Trophy becomes genuinely up for grabs. Monitor the Stars' injury report carefully — depth health over a compressed schedule is where these races are actually decided.

For the Eastern teams, Carolina's quest to catch Colorado from the East is mathematically possible but requires a near-perfect finish combined with Avalanche inconsistency. More likely, the race to watch there is Carolina vs. Tampa for the best record in the East — a designation that carries real playoff seeding implications.

The NHL regular season concludes April 16. Between now and then, the Presidents' Trophy race, the six-team cluster chasing it, and the downstream implications for Cup futures pricing make this stretch of hockey betting as rich as anything the league produces outside the playoffs themselves.

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