The New York Rangers defeated the Ottawa Senators on Monday (April 15) to win the Metropolitan Division and the Presidents’ Trophy for the best team in the NHL for the 2023-24 season.
In defeating the Senators, the Rangers secured first place in the Metropolitan Division, won the Presidents’ Trophy as the team with the most points in the NHL this season (114), and set a team record for points in a season.
The Rangers have been first in the division for 175 consecutive days, the Eastern Conference for 24 straight, and the NHL for 22 in a row. They clinched a playoff berth on March 26 with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
Coach Peter Laviolette has been consistent in his messaging since the Rangers clinched a playoff berth, always talking about each game being its own entity, and if they keep focusing on getting the two points available to them on that night, good things will happen. He said he stopped practice Monday morning to hold a brief team meeting at center ice to discuss exactly that because the messaging doesn’t change even though the last two points on the line can lock it all up for them.
In winning the Presidents’ Trophy, the Rangers will look to reverse the “Presidents’ Trophy Jinx.” The team that won the trophy has gone on to win the Stanley Cup only eight times. At first, the best team in the league won six times in 17 years, a pretty decent percentage, but in the 15 years since 2001-02, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning team has won the Cup twice.