2026 Conn Smythe Trophy power rankings: Playoff MVP candidates entering the third round
With Hunter Crowther
As we reach the halfway mark of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, we’ve seen plenty of strong performances from players on all four teams. But the beauty of these playoffs has been that no single player has done it alone on this run. And the further their team goes, the more that will be the case.
So was we enter the third round, lets reflect on the best performances on the postseason thus far, and see how some players fare in the conversation for the Conn Smythe Trophy. The list boasts dynamic scoring forwards, a couple of strong goaltending runs, and even one defender who impacts the game at both ends of the ice for his team.
Much like the regular season, where we ranked every team, Hunter Crowther and I have linked up to find the best options to win the playoff MVP title. We both submitted our picks, averaged them all out, and then broke down our selections with our typical witty banter and playful insults.
1. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
9 GP, 7 G, 6 A, 13 P
Hunter’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 1st
Scott: I think there’s an argument to be made for anyone in the top three, with each wavering for different reasons. Marner is lighting up the playoffs after everything that happened with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Andersen has been unbeatable in net. But Conn Smythe odds also need to play into how likely the player is going to be in a situation to win the Conn Smythe (aka win the Stanley Cup), and right now, MacKinnon’s Avs still feel like the best. He’s been the best player on the Avs, and it still feels like there’s another gear to him as well.
Hunter: I feel like every year or so, we catch a glimpse of MacKinnon entering that “best player on the planet” mode, where there’s no debate about where he ranks, and we’re watching it right now. The Hart Trophy finalist has scored in six straight games, including every one against the Wild in the second round.
2. Mitch Marner, Vegas Golden Knights
12 GP, 7 G, 11 A, 18 P
Hunter’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 3rd
Hunter: It was always going to end up this way, wasn’t it? Marner finished the second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks with five goals and 11 points, giving him a league-leading 18 total points in the playoffs. Also, the storyline of Marner leaving the Leafs and immediately becoming a playoff superstar is too good for the writers who vote on the Conn Smythe Trophy to pass up on. It’s up to Marner to keep it up against the top-ranked Avalanche.
Scott: We’ve seen this too many times! A former Leaf does well in the playoffs in a Stanley Cup victory. Phil Kessel should have won a Conn Smythe with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but I digress.
Like Hunter said, the real test for Marner maintaining his chances for the Conn Smythe (aside from winning the Cup) is how he plays against Colorado. He’s done well, but this is in the “pillow fight” side of the bracket. We need to see how he does against a real Cup contender.
3. Frederik Andersen, Carolina Hurricanes
8 GP, 8-0-0, .950 SV%, 2 SO
Hunter’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 2nd
Hunter: If you had to pick which goalie from this spring’s Stanley Cup Playoffs would perform the best, you likely wouldn’t have Frederik Andersen in your top five, and you may not even have him in your top 10. But through eight games, Andersen has wins in all eight of his appearances, two shutouts and a playoff-best .950 save percentage. He’s allowed just 10 goals through two rounds, a stat that sounded made up while I typed it. It’s hard to imagine calling the Carolina netminder the team’s MVP so far, but here we are.
Scott: It helps that, as you’ll see shortly, the other three MVPs on the Canes split the vote. It feels like a stumble from Andersen is a matter of when, not if, but until then, he’s been nearly flawless. He’s yet to allow more than two goals in a game, and has only twice had a save percentage below .940. That’s tough to beat.
4. Lane Hutson, Montreal Canadiens
14 GP, 2 G, 12 A, 14 P
Hunter’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 4th
Scott: I waxed poetic about Hutson last time around, and the same point still stands. The Canadiens are a completely different team when he’s on the ice, especially in their own zone. Unlike the Habs top line, who have struggled all playoffs, Hutson has stood out, is leading the team in scoring, and doing so in similarly tough competition as the top line. While Montreal’s success has largely come from their depth lines and Dobes (although he struggled at times against the Buffalo Sabres), Hutson’s play has been the biggest difference-maker, at least from a single person.
Hunter: I think the thing that stands out when I watch the Habs play is that every time Hutson takes the puck in his own end, I put the phone down or look away from my laptop, because something amazing could happen. He grabs your attention the way Connor McDavid does when he carries the puck up through the neutral zone. Maybe a part of that is the sound of the Montreal crowd going “Ohhh!” when he’s skating up ice, but either way, he’s a scene stealer.
Scott: Hutson’s impressiveness and shock value might be reaching a point where he’s doing it on a more consistent basis than Cale Makar. It might be a few more years where he has the sample size to back that up, but he’s so close to that tier with Makar and Quinn Hughes.
5. Martin Necas, Colorado Avalanche
9 GP, 1 G, 10 A, 11 P
Hunter’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 5th
Scott: For all the reasons I liked MacKinnon in the top spot, I like Necas here. He’s played almost identically to MacKinnon, both offensively and defensively, and with both strapped to each other’s hips, they’ve both played similarly tough minutes. Considering MacKinnon’s reputation around the league, if this continues, the voters will skew his way, but one red-hot series from Necas, especially in the Stanley Cup Final, and he’s easily ahead.
6. Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights
12 GP, 1 G, 14 A, 15 P
Hunter’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 6th
Hunter: Right behind Marner in terms of offense is Eichel, whose 14 assists lead the league this postseason. Even if the majority of those assists are secondary, Eichel’s playmaking and ability to generate scoring chances jumped off the page through the second round, with flashes of what he brought to the table during their 2023 Stanley Cup championship run. If Vegas has any hopes of getting past the Avs, Eichel will need to ramp up his production and win more shifts than he loses.
Scott: Honestly, I had Eichel as high as I did more for his defensive play than his offensive output. It feels like he’s one of the few players in the Western Conference who can play foil to MacKinnon, so how that matchup goes could skyrocket his Conn Smythe chances.
As silly as it is to say this, him scoring just one goal so far may hurt his chances as well. He led the 2023 Golden Knights in scoring in the playoffs when they won the Cup, but he lost out on the Conn Smythe because he had six goals to Jonathan Marchessault’s 13. If Vegas does the thing again, I could see a bit of deja vu for Eichel in that department.
7. Jakub Dobes, Montreal Canadiens
14 GP, 8-6-0, .910 SV%
Hunter’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 7th
Hunter: Dobes is as close to the “hot-cold goalie” theory as you can get. He struggled mightily in Games 1, 4 and 6 — all games the Habs lost — and looked all-world in Games 2, 3, 5 and 7, the last being a 36-save performance against the Buffalo Sabres. It’s clear he’s a major factor in their wins, but he’s just as likely to be the reason why they lose.
Scott: In a playoff season which hasn’t had a lot of stellar goalie performances, Dobes is the second-best of the remaining four goalies. But his lows could drop him lower on the list just as much as his highs can sway voters. In a matchup between “defenseman leading the team in scoring while making the team look competent defensively when he’s on the ice” vs “goalie with pretty good numbers who was inconsistent in the second round” for the Habs’ MVP, I’ll take the former.
8. Taylor Hall, Carolina Hurricanes
8 GP, 3 G, 9 A, 12 P
Hunter’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 8th
Scott: Seeing Hall play at this level again has been a sight for sore eyes. He’s been a journeyman for the back half of his career and not quite at the level that he was with the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils, so seeing him click so well in the playoffs has been great. I’d honestly have him higher on the list, but his line with Stankoven and Blake has clicked so well that it’s hard to pick one standout. Add in that the three playing well runs the risk of splitting votes, and that’s why he’s as low as he is. Andersen has also played so well it’s hard to not go with him first among the Canes.
Hunter: In the same way Hall won the Hart Trophy in 2018, there’s a world where the production of a few players slightly falls off, and the Hurricanes’ forward swoops in and steals the Conn Smythe. He had impressive shifts and bursts of production during the Philadelphia Flyers series, and when you consider the playoff MVP is usually a narrative-based award, what’s more appealing than a 34-year-old finally winning on his seventh team?
9. Logan Stankoven, Carolina Hurricanes
8 GP, 7 G, 1 A, 8 P
Hunter’s Rank: 9th
Scott’s Rank: 9th
Hunter: It feels like we’re undervaluing Stankoven’s performance through the playoffs, as the 5-foot-8 forward has seven goals in eight games, and is tied with MacKinnon for the most goals in the playoffs by someone who doesn’t wear a Golden Knights sweater. His ice time has fluctuated through Carolina’s eight games, playing as few as 15 minutes or less in six of them, but he’s proven to be reliable. It doesn’t hurt that he’s only been on the ice for two even-strength goals against all spring.
10. Jackson Blake, Carolina Hurricanes
8 GP, 4 G, 7 A, 11 P
Hunter’s Rank: 11th
Scott’s Rank: 10th
Scott: Rounding out the trio of Canes is Blake. It’s really hard to separate the contributions of the three when they’ve played so similarly, so in this case, you have to put yourself in the mind of the voter. Hall leads the team in scoring, while Stankoven has the most goals. Blake is in the mushy middle with more goals than Hall and more points than Stankoven, which may give him some late ballot votes, but he may fall behind the other two without the flashy accolade of goal/point leader on the team.