For the second consecutive year, the Edmonton Oilers will play the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.
Last season ended in a heartbreaker, as the Oilers stormed back from 3-0 down in the series, just to lose 2-1 in Game 7, failing to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada.
For only the sixth time since the Conn Smythe Trophy began being awarded for the 1965 Stanley Cup Final, a player on the losing team won the trophy. That player was Connor McDavid, who became just the second skater on the losing team to win the trophy.
McDavid played out of his mind, scoring eight goals and finishing with 42 points, the fourth-highest point total in any postseason. There was no one on the Panthers who was even close to earning the postseason MVP.
Coming into that series, McDavid had five goals and 31 points. Despite that, Bouchard was my front-runner for the Conn Smythe heading into the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, scoring six goals and 27 points in 18 games as a defenceman.
Fast forward a year, and the question is, who is the front-runner on the Oilers for the Conn Smythe Trophy?
Connor McDavid
It’s hard to argue against Connor McDavid as the team’s postseason MVP. After 16 games, the best player of all time has six goals and 26 points for a 1.63 point-per-game rate. That’s down from his 1.68 PPG pace last postseason, his 1.67 PPG pace in the 2023 postseason, and his incredible 2.06 PPG pace in 2022.
Still, he’s been the Oilers’ best player in the postseason, scoring clutch goal after clutch goal, including the game-winning goal in Thursday’s series-clincher against the Dallas Stars. Like last Stanley Cup Finals, don’t put it past McDavid to go on a similar tear against the Panthers.
Moreover, his 26 points this postseason lead the league. It’s safe to say he’s the favourite after the Conference Finals.
Leon Draisaitl
Second to McDavid in point-getting is Leon Draisaitl, as he’s scored seven goals and 25 points in 16 games for a 1.56 point-per-game pace. It’s better than the pace he had last postseason, as he finished with 31 points in 25 games for a 1.24 PPG. Like McDavid, Draisaitl was at a two-point-per-game pace in the 2022 postseason, and he was above a goal-per-game pace in the 2023 postseason.
Despite being second in points this postseason, it feels like Draisaitl has another level. He has just seven goals through 16 games, the same total he had in 2022. Draisaitl dominated the 2023 postseason, finishing tied for first in goals even though the Oilers were knocked out in the second round. Last season, Draisaitl was injured in Game 1 against the Vancouver Canucks in the second round and continued to produce despite that.
Even if he doesn’t win the Conn Smythe, he’s the clear favourite for the Hart Memorial Trophy.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Okay, hear me out.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins wasn’t bad by any means in the first two series, scoring three goals and nine points in 11 games, a totally acceptable number for a defensively reliable player. However, he was by far the best player on the ice in the series against the Dallas Stars.
The longest tenured Oiler became just the fourth player to record four consecutive multi-point games to start the Conference Finals, scoring two goals and nine points in five games. That brings his totals to five goals and 18 points in 16 postseason games.
Unlike Draisaitl or McDavid, who are favourites to win the Conn Smythe, Nugent-Hopkins will have to play like he did in the Conference Finals to even have any consideration of winning the postseason MVP award; even then, McDavid or Draisaitl would likely win it over him.
Still, he was a big reason why the Oilers were able to defeat the Stars in five games, and he’s been one of the best players for the Oilers this season.
Evan Bouchard
Unlike last postseason, Evan Bouchard isn’t my front-runner to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. That said, I don’t care about a random turnover that leads to a goal in November; Bouchard is one of the best defencemen in the league and deserves every single penny he’ll get this off-season.
This postseason, the right-shot defenceman has six goals and 17 points in 16 games, tied for third in goals on the Oilers. Has he been more valuable than McDavid or Draisaitl? Probably not, but he’s been the best defenceman the past two postseasons, and he deserves a mention here.
The Panthers
I would really rather not imagine a world in which the Panthers win back-to-back Stanley Cups over the Oilers, but we should still talk about Florida’s potential MVPs.
Sam Bennett leads the league with 10 goals in the playoffs, and Aleksander Barkov leads the team with 17 points in 17 games while also playing rock-solid defensively. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has a .912 save percentage along with a 12-5 record in the playoffs.
