Conn Smythe Watch: Who’s leading for Stanley Cup MVP?Greg WyshynskiMay 5, 2026, 07:45 AM ETClose
- Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
Eight teams have packed their hockey bags and gone home. Eight teams still have a shot at winning the Stanley Cup — and one of their players will win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Here’s the first Conn Smythe Watch of the 2026 playoffs. Keep in mind that in the NHL, the Conn Smythe is based on a player’s performance during the entire postseason, not just the championship round.
The award is voted on by an 18-person panel of Professional Hockey Writers Association members. We polled over a dozen writers 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 cusp of breaking through in the MVP race.
Read more:
Full schedule
Playoff Central
Stanley Cup odds
Second-round picks
Offseason guide for eliminated teams
The current MVPs
Frederik Andersen
G, Carolina Hurricanes
Freddie Andersen can be an adventure in the postseason. Sometimes he’s out with an injury. Sometimes he’s 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 a 1.02 goals-against average this postseason.
Andersen has been the playoffs’ best goaltender and the backbone of the playoffs’ best defensive team. Yes, the skaters in front of Andersen can smother an opposing offense like an anaconda, but Freddie is the key to Carolina’s defensive effectiveness. He had nine goals saved above expected through five games. He’s also their most important penalty killer, sporting a .923 save percentage as the Hurricanes killed off 24 of 26 power plays.
Again, the 36-year-old Dane can be a roller coaster. Every climb has a drop. But for now, Andersen is the reason the Hurricanes look like Eastern Conference favorites. OK, one of two reasons. (See: The favorites).
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Quinn Hughes
D, Minnesota Wild
That Quinn Hughes would lead the league in postseason ice time was predictable, seeing as how he led the league in average ice time (27:44 in 74 games) during the regular season with Minnesota and the Vancouver Canucks. But the sheer volume is still impressive: He has played 218:58 in seven games, an average of 31:17 per game that was inflated by a Game 3 OT loss (43:47) and a Game 4 OT win (37:21) over Dallas. And that’s with just 1:31 in short-handed ice time.
That Quinn Hughes would lead the NHL postseason in scoring was less predictable, 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 their seven games including two goals and an assist in their closeout game against Dallas and three more in the Game 1 offensive circus against Colorado. Oh, and he’s a plus-9, for the lovers of the superfluous.
Nathan MacKinnon
F, Colorado Avalanche
MacKinnon wasn’t at the top of the ballot for the writers we surveyed, but he’s the clear wagering favorite for the Conn Smythe. DraftKings Sportsbook has him at +475, ahead of Andersen (+800) and MacKinnon’s teammate Cale Makar (+900), who won the Conn Smythe in the Avalanche’s 2022 Cup win.
So, one can surmise that the betting markets are building in the fact that the Avalanche are the Stanley Cup favorites and MacKinnon has a long run ahead of him, but the writers are looking at which players are most valuable in getting their teams to the second round. MacKinnon shares the points lead on the Avalanche (seven) with Devon Toews through five games, with both skating to a plus-7. He remains Colorado’s offensive engine and its unquestioned leader.
The favorites
Matt Boldy
F, Minnesota Wild
The difference between failing in the first round and advancing in the playoffs can sometimes come down to one question: Do you have someone who can make a play in a vital moment?
The Wild are in Round 2 for the first time since 2015 because they have Matt Boldy. He had six goals and four assists in seven games for Minnesota, including one of the series’ biggest goals: his 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 growing from star to superstar as Minnesota’s ride continues.
Jakub Dobes
G, Montreal Canadiens
Can you imagine Dobes, this rookie goaltender, looking at the scoreboard as his team spent an entire second period without a shot on goal in a Game 7? And yet he stood in there, making 28 saves to propel the Canadiens to the second round and become the second goalie this year to make Jon Cooper’s life miserable in an elimination game.
Overall, Dobes has a .923 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average for the Habs. He has been especially good early in games, as the Lightning had only two first-period goals in seven games. Dobes also has a little history in his MVP case: He became just the third rookie goalie 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.
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Alex Lyon
G, Buffalo Sabres
One of the primary reasons the Sabres broke their historic Stanley Cup playoff drought was their goaltending, which went from 31st in the NHL in save percentage in 2024-25 to third overall this season. Lyon, 33, signed as a free agent last summer and was a huge part of that renaissance in the crease. But he didn’t get the start in Buffalo’s series with Boston, as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen won Game 1 and then had a rough Game 2.
Enter Lyon for Game 3, and the Sabres haven’t looked back. He’s 3-1 with a .955 save percentage and a 1.14 goals-against average, outdueling Jeremy Swayman as Lyon pushed Buffalo to the second round. Keep in mind this is still a tandem, however. We’ve probably not seen the last of UPL … unless Lyon doesn’t give him a chance to take the crease back.
Logan Stankoven
F, Carolina Hurricanes
Taylor Hall
F, Carolina Hurricanes
Although there isn’t a Jake Guentzel or a Mikko Rantanen on the roster, this is the best offensive team that Rod Brind’Amour has had in Carolina. The Hurricanes averaged 3.55 goals per game in the regular season, the highest average in his eight years as coach. When’s the last time the Canes had two scoring lines that opponents had to be concerned about? Besides Sebastian Aho’s line, there’s now the trio of Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven.
It’s Stankoven who has earned the most attention here, and rightfully so with six goals in six games, including two game winners. That’s 35% of the goals the Hurricanes scored in the playoffs through six games! He has set a physical tone and has been a terror in the offensive zone with a team-high 27 shots.
But Hall is now in the conversation, too. 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 antagonism that’s going to be very necessary as they continue through the Eastern Conference bracket. Having a former Hart Trophy winner find a second chapter as a vital role player for a Cup winner would be quite a compelling story.
Making their cases
Jackson LaCombe
D, Anaheim Ducks
Knowing that Connor McDavid had a fractured ankle slightly diminishes the achievement of LaCombe and the Ducks in slowing down the Oilers superstar. But Anaheim’s first trip back to the playoffs since 2018 has put LaCombe, 25, squarely in the spotlight.
The defenseman led Anaheim with nine points through six games, averaging 27:00 per night in ice time. His pairing with Jacob Trouba had a 63.7% expected goals percentage against the Oilers. LaCombe’s star was already on the rise thanks to being on the U.S. Olympic roster, and now the rest of the NHL is getting a look at the standout whom Ducks fans have trumpeted as one of the league’s next great defensemen.
Alex Tuch
F, Buffalo Sabres
Alex Tuch is playoff hockey. He’s got the beard, the physicality and the emotion to power a postseason newbie like Buffalo through a tough series against Boston, and perhaps even further than that.
Tuch was tied with Tage Thompson with seven points through six games but led the Sabres with four goals. That included arguably the most important goal of the series when he gave Buffalo the lead in the third period of its Game 3 win as it bounced back from an emotionally devastating loss at home in Game 2.
2026 Stanley Cup FavoritesCarolina Hurricanes
