The Colorado Avalanche found an unlikely defender in Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill. During a recent presser, the rival GM discussed how difficult the NHL regular season can be. In particular, the veteran exec touched on an interesting topic: The league needs to do more to reward the Presidents’ Trophy winners.
Well, he’s right. The man does have a point. But what seems really interesting is the fact that he went to bat for the Avalanche.
“I don’t think there’s enough advantage to a team. I don’t think Colorado gets enough advantage for winning the Presidents’ Trophy. If you win the Presidents’ Trophy. If you win your division, what it is, I don't know what it is… but there’s not enough emphasis on how hard the regular season is.”
Nill has a point. And the regular season is about to get even harder when the league moves to an 84-game schedule next season.
Jim Nill said today that he believes teams should be rewarded more than they currently are for winning the Presidents' Trophy in the regular season. pic.twitter.com/F4xpZ6OQ61
— Robert Tiffin (@RobertTiffin) May 7, 2026
The Stars’ GM didn’t elaborate on what the reward for being the top NHL team should be. That cold be something up for debate should it come to it. But we can all agree that a team that had a fantastic regular season like the Avalanche should get something out of it beyond a shiny trophy.
Avalanche should have gotten a just reward for a fantastic season
If the aim is to reward teams for regular-season success, one idea could be granting a first-round bye in the postseason. For example, the NFL uses this tactic to reward the top seeds. In baseball, the top two seeds in each league get to sit out the first round.
Imagine the Presidents’ Trophy winner gets to sit out the first round and calmly watch other teams bludgeon themselves.
That’s thought. Of course, that situation would require a redistribution of the playoff format. If that proves too challenging, perhaps the Presidents’ Trophy winner gets to choose who they play in the first round.
An idea could be for the Presidents’ Trophy winners to get a shot at the NHL Draft Lottery. Instead of rewarding the poor teams with a high draft pick, why not give the top team in the league a shot at the first-overall pick?
Imagine the Avalanche winning the Presidents’ Trophy this season, and getting, say, the third-overall pick on top of that? Wouldn’t that be an incentive for all teams to gun for the top?
Regardless of the incentive itself, the point is to encourage teams to compete for the top seeds in each conference. As it stands, the only seeming benefit is home-ice advantage.
However, Jim Nill is onto something. Top teams need far more incentives than the ones they currently have. The playoffs aren’t just about the bottom teams scrambling to make it. The top teams should also get something from being the best team in the league that particular season.
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