You hear it all the time. Don't win the President's Trophy, it's the kiss of death. And to support their argument, the critics point to the San Jose Sharks who finished first overall last year and then lost in the first round. But is the President’s Trophy really something to be avoided?

On the face of it, the numbers aren't compelling. Out of the 23 seasons since the President's Trophy was introduced, the first place team has gone on to win the Cup just seven times or 30%. From the glass is half-empty perspective that means 70% of the time the Stanley Cup champ has been the team that didn’t finish first. Hardly a ringing endorsement for winning the trophy. But when you break it down further, it becomes clear that coming in first overall gives a team the best chance for hoisting the Cup at the end of the season. As you can see in the table, the first place finisher over the last 23 seasons has won the Cup 30.4% of the time. The next grouping, fourth place, has won it only 17.4% of the time. All the other positions lag far behind. The bottom line? Finish first. Don’t run the team into the ground doing it, but don’t shy away from it either. It gives you by far the best chance of winning the Cup. In any case, the Caps are all but assured of winning the East. Winning the President’s Trophy just guarantees that if there’s a seventh game in the Finals, it will be played at Verizon and who doesn’t want that. Plus, the team gets a nice, shiny trophy to put on display.