The NHL’s Presidents Trophy has an offensive bias.

Lets face it – if two teams come into a game lethargic, you can play smart defense and work less hard. If your team scores mucker-style playoff goals, you need to have the throttle down to be effective (and you need some bounces). So when you can’t be at that 100%, teams that have dangly skill guys (who are dangerous at half-speed) can still put enough pucks in the net to win.

And over the course of an 82 game season, plenty of games are played by two worn down teams. Which is why, when you have the natural firepower of a Washington, you can score that extra goal or two without the extra effort, and collect your two points. In the past, it hasn’t been that the Presidents Trophy winning team has the best team, they’ve just had the best skill guys.