That's a myth. The President's trophy winner has a better winning percentage than any other finishing spot. They don't win more often than the rest of the field, but they win more often than any other seed.
yes I just went back over the last 10 president trophy winners
obviously they all made the playoffs
only 3/10 lost in the first round {which is similar to any other seed}
3/10 went to the final 4 {which again stacks up very nicely to any other seed}
winning the president trophy is no guarantee for success which I guess is what some people cling to when they try to call it a jynx. its not a jynx.
it just proves the playoffs are an entirely different beast from the grind of a regular season. playoffs come down to who is the better/healthier/luckier team in a 7 game showdown {and often a 1 game showdown}
theres so much parity that the difference between finishing first and 8th in the regular season often comes down to whoever ran their players into the ground. theres plenty of teams that finish 4-10 in the standings that were more than good enough to contend for the top of the standings... but just didnt play their hardest.
this doesnt mean they will win the cup either though... even if they rest up a bit...
all it really means is that theres a good chance you will play a team in the first round that might take you to 7 games... and that means if they get more luck than you do, they might beat you