Conn Smythe Watch: Who’s leading for Stanley Cup MVP?

Eight teams have packed their hockey bags and gone home. Eight teams still have a chance to win the Stanley Cup – and one of their players will win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Here’s the first Conn Smith watch of the 2026 playoffs. Keep in mind that in the NHL, Con Smythe is based on a player’s performance during entire postseasonNot just the championship round.

The award is voted on by an 18-person panel of members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. We polled more than a dozen authors for their current Conn Smythe top three.

Here’s a look at some of the current leaders for MVP honors, as well as players on the verge of taking the lead in the MVP race.

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current mvp

Anderson could be an adventure in the postseason. Sometimes he is out due to injury. Sometimes it is ineffective to the point of being replaced. And sometimes he goes on an absolute heater, going undefeated in his first six games with a .958 save percentage and 1.02 goals-against average this postseason.

Anderson has been the playoffs’ best goaltender and the backbone of the playoffs’ best defensive team. Yes, the skaters in front of Andersen can crush opposing offenses like an anaconda, but Freddy is the key to Carolina’s defensive effectiveness. In five games he made nine more saves than expected. He is also their most important penalty killer, posting a .923 save percentage on 26 opposing power plays (24 of which were successfully killed by the Hurricanes).

Then again, the 36-year-old Dane could be a roller coaster. Every climb has a fall. But for now, Anderson is the reason the Hurricanes look to be the Eastern Conference favorites. Well, one of two reasons. (See: Favorite).

It was predictable that Hughes would lead the league in ice time in the postseason, given how he led the league in average ice time (27:44 in 74 games) during the regular season with Minnesota and the Giants. vancouver canucks. But the sheer volume is still impressive: He’s played 218:58 over seven games, an average of 31:17 per game that was boosted by the Game 3 OT loss (43:47) and Game 4 OT win (37:21) vs. Dallas. And this is with only 1:31 of short-handed ice time.

There was little expectation that Hughes would lead the NHL postseason in scoring, but here we are: Entering Monday’s action, Hughes had 11 points (three goals, eight assists) for the Wild – 10 of those points coming at even strength. He has scored in six of his seven games, including two goals and an assist in his close game against Dallas and three more goals in the Game 1 offensive circus against Colorado. Oh, and that’s a plus-9 for lovers of nonsense.

MacKinnon didn’t top the ballot among the writers we surveyed, but he’s the clear betting favorite for Conn Smith. DraftKings Sportsbook has him at +475, ahead of teammate Anderson (+800) and McKinnon. black capricorn (+900), who won Conn Smith Avalanche’s 2022 Cup win.

So one can speculate that the betting market is based on the fact that the Avalanche are the Stanley Cup favorites and MacKinnon is well ahead of them, but the writers are looking at which players are most valuable to getting their teams to the second round. MacKinnon shares the points lead over the Avalanche (seven) devon toews Through five games, both skated to plus-7. He remains Colorado’s offensive engine and its undisputed leader.

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Avs win Game 1 with flurry of goals in third period

Avs win Game 1 with flurry of goals in third period

Favorite

The difference between failing in the first round and advancing to the playoffs can sometimes come down to one question: Do you have someone who can make plays in the key moments?

The Wild are in Round 2 for the first time since 2015 because they have a bowlie. He scored six goals and four assists in seven games for Minnesota, including one of the biggest goals of the series: their overtime winner at home in Game 4, knowing that a loss would have given Dallas a 3–1 series lead. He’s clearly one of those players who is going from star to superstar as he continues his journey in Minnesota.

Can you imagine a rookie goaltender looking at the scoreboard as his team went an entire second without getting a single shot on goal in Game 7? And yet there he stood, making 28 saves to send the Canadiens to the second round and become the second goaltender to do so this year. Make John Cooper’s life miserable in the elimination game.

Dobbs has a .923 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average this season. He has been especially good early in games, as the Lightning only had two first-period goals in the series. Dobbs also has a bit of history in the MVP case: He became the third rookie goaltender in Montreal history to win a Game 7 on the road. The other two are in the Hall of Fame: Jacques Plante and Ken Dryden.

One of the primary reasons for the Sabers breaking their historic Stanley Cup playoff drought was their goaltending, which went from 31st in the NHL in save percentage this season to third in 2024–25. The 33-year-old Lyon signed as a free agent last summer and was a big part of that renaissance in the crease. But he did not get the start in Buffalo’s series with Boston. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen Won Game 1 and then won a tough Game 2.

Enter Lyon for Game 3, and the Sabers haven’t looked back. He’s 3-1 with a .955 save percentage and 1.14 goals-against average, beating jeremy swayman As Lyon pushed Buffalo into the second round. However, keep in mind that this is still a tandem. We may not have seen a UPL final… unless Lyon gives him a chance to get back on the crease.

Although there is no one Jake Guentzel or a Mikko Rantanen As for the roster, this is Rod Brind’Amour’s best offensive team in Carolina. The Hurricanes averaged 3.55 goals per game in the regular season, his highest average in his eight years as coach. When was the last time the Canes had two scoring lines that opponents had to worry about? apart from sebastian aholine, now the trio of Stankoven, Hall and jackson blake.

It is Stankoven who has attracted the most attention here, and rightly so with six goals in six games, including two game-winners. That’s 35% of the goals the Hurricanes scored in the playoffs in six games! He has set a physical tone and caused terror in the offensive zone with a team-high 27 shots.

But Hall is also now in talks. He leads the Canes with nine points (three goals, six assists), including the overtime game winner in Game 2 against the Flyers. He brings a physicality and opposition that will be much needed as they continue through the Eastern Conference bracket. A former Hart Trophy winner getting a second chapter as a key role player for a Cup winner would be quite a compelling story.

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Taylor Hall hits OT winner to put Hurricanes up 2-0 in series

Taylor Hall hit the OT winner to put the Hurricanes up 2–0 in the series.

making their case

knowing that connor mcdavid The accomplishments of LaCombe and the Ducks in slowing down the Oilers superstar due to a fractured ankle have been cut short. But Anaheim’s first trip back to the playoffs since 2018 has put the 25-year-old squarely in the spotlight.

The defenseman led Anaheim with nine points in six games, averaging 27:00 per night in ice time. with their pair jacob trouba The expected goals percentage against the Oilers was 63.7%. LaCombe’s star was already on the rise by being on the US Olympic roster, and now the rest of the NHL has its eyes on the standout who has been touted by Ducks fans as one of the league’s next great defensemen.

Alex Tuch is playoff hockey. He has the beard, physicality and spirit to power a postseason rookie like Buffalo through a tough series against Boston, and maybe even beyond.

was tied to touch taze thompson Finished ahead of the Sabers with seven points in six games but four goals. This included arguably the most important goal of the series when he gave Buffalo the lead in the third period of the Game 3 win, and bounced back from an emotionally devastating loss at home in Game 2.

Again, MacKinnon has the inside track for Avalanche MVP based on his performance and projections… for now. Assuming Makar isn’t limited after that big hit in Game 1 against the Wild, he may be finding his stride. The defenseman was very impressive in the opening match of that high-scoring series, scoring two key goals. It was his third consecutive playoff game with a goal.

No matter how the Flyers’ series against Carolina went, no one can take away the masterpiece that Vladar produced against the Penguins in Game 6 of their series, helping Philly eliminate its opponent in overtime with a 42-save effort and a 1-0 shutout. He had an excellent .929 save percentage and 1.89 goals against average in eight games and nearly helped Philly steal Game 2 in Raleigh. The Flyers were likely alone without him.

Eichel has nine points in six games, although he has scored only one goal. He had three assists in the Golden Knights’ overtime win at Utah in Game 4 and then two more assists in their overtime win at home in Game 5.

Eichel is ranked seventh in DraftKings odds, the highest for any Golden Knights player, but one could argue that Marner has the better case. He has nine points in seven games, two of which are low-handed. He had three points (two goals and one assist) in the Game 6 final win over Mammoth, assisted by Brett HowdenScored an overtime short-handed goal to win the decisive Game 5 and had a goal and an assist in the Game 1 win over Anaheim on Monday night.

But let’s address the real intrigue here: Could voters have stopped themselves from giving Conn Smith to Marner after he was treated like a playoff pariah in Toronto?

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Mitch Marner’s second goal gives the Golden Knights a strong lead

Mitch Marner’s second goal gave the Golden Knights a strong lead.

at the peak

The explosive winger scored four goals in six games against the Oilers, including two game-winners, one of which was a third-period goal in Game 2 in Edmonton, which brought the series back to Anaheim, where the Ducks won Games 3 and 4.

Hutson had six points in seven games in the first round to share the team lead with Suzuki. Both of them scored big goals in the series win over the Lightning, with Hutson scoring the OT winner in Game 3 and Suzuki being credited with the opening goal on a deflection off a Lightning defender in Game 7.

We would group these two together for three reasons:

• They performed brilliantly for their respective teams in the initial rounds.

• He had very poor numbers in the Game 1 goalfest which the Avalanche won 9–6.

• Depending on what direction their teams want to go after Game 1, they could continue to backstop the two Stanley Cup contenders, or the crease could be flipped. mackenzie blackwood And philip gustavsonRespectively.

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Scott Wedgwood makes big save against Wild

Scott Wedgwood saved Wild and robbed him

gone but not forgotten

Sidney Crosby (pittsburgh penguins)
leon draisaitl (edmonton oilers)
dylan guenther (utah mammoth)
Brandon Hagel (tampa bay lightning)
david pasternak (boston bruins)
jason robertson (dallas stars)
Linus Ullmark (ottawa senators)