2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Ranking the Top Conn Smythe Trophy Contenders
The first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs is officially behind us, and the second round has already started off with a bang.
The Hurricanes remain undefeated, winning their first two games against the Flyers at home. The Avalanche are already up 2-0 on the Wild and continue to dominate, the Golden Knights have a 1-0 series lead over the Ducks, and the battle for Atlantic Division supremacy between Montreal and Buffalo finally begins tonight.
With the field narrowed from 16 to eight teams, the potential Conn Smythe Trophy candidate pool has also been cut in half. Keep in mind, the trophy is awarded to the MVP of the entire postseason, not just the Stanley Cup Final. So, it doesn't hurt to start checking in on which individual performances are standing out so far.
Here's an early ranking of the top Conn Smythe Trophy contenders.
11. Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens
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Hutson and Suzuki have stepped up in huge ways for the Habs in their own unique ways, helping the team reach the second round. They tie for Montreal's points lead with six points in seven games in the first round.
Hutson's overtime thriller won Game 3 against the Lightning, and they don't make it to the second round without Suzuki's consistency, leadership, and/or Game 7 goal.
Will they continue their clutch factor against the Sabres tonight?
10. Jakub Dobeš, Montreal Canadiens
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In the end, it was the rookie goaltender who preserved in net to win the wackiest, most thrilling series of the first round.
When absolutely nothing was cooking for the Habs offensively in Game 7, Dobeš kept them in it at crucial times -- especially the second period featuring zero shots -- and held on for the win.
He's sitting at 4.4 goals saved above expected, a .923 save percentage, and a 2.03 goals against average after that wild first round. Given how up-and-down, back-and-forth, and all-around that series was, these numbers are seriously impressive.
9. Matt Boldy, Minnesota Wild
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The Wild have finally made it to the second round for plenty of reasons: goaltending's been solid (save for the, uh, nine goals allowed), Quinn Hughes has delivered, and the best players are stepping up.
When I consider what has truly moved the needle more than ever, though, my mind goes to big plays that Boldy has been involved in. He's got six goals and 10 points for the Wild, including the overtime Game 4 winner that served as the turning point to even the series for the Wild.
The Wild have suffered from a lack of these big-moment players making big-moment plays, and Boldy has been chipping away at that reputation shift by shift.
He had a quieter Game 2 against the Avalanche on Tuesday, as did the rest of the team save for Kirill Kaprizov, but they aren't winning this series without a big Boldy moment. Either that's coming, and he's back in Conn Smythe contention, or the Avalanche will solve them.
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8. Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights
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Here's another duo where we wonder which of Marner and Eichel will pull away for more productivity and impact on the team.
It's very close right now, as Marner's got three goals and nine points and Eichel's got one goal and nine points. Marner's got the slight edge right now with some big game moments -- three points in the Round 2 clincher, and a Goal and an assist in Vegas' Game 1 win over the Ducks.
7. Dan Vladar, Philadelphia Flyers
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The Flyers making the postseason at all was a surprise for many, let alone beating the Penguins the way they did.
Goaltender Dan Vladar is at the helm of their success. They simply don't win that all-important Game 6 against the Penguins without Vladar's 42-save effort and ensuing 1-0 shutout.
They've got a difficult opponent in the Canes, but even then, Vladar has held on to some respectable stats. He ranks second in Goals Saved Above Expected with 8.2, he owns a .929 save percentage, and a 1.89 goals against average through eight games.
If the Flyers pull off a miraculous comeback against the Hurricanes, it's almost guaranteed that Vladar will be the cause and reason why.
6. Quinn Hughes, Minnesota Wild
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If the Wild manage a miraculous comeback over the Avalanche, Quinn Hughes is absolutely in the Conn Smythe conversation. He leads the playoff field with 11 points (including three goals) in eight games, and he's leading all second-round teams in time on ice average with a whopping 30:53 per game.
5. Alex Tuch, Buffalo Sabres
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No power play, no problem -- if you've got a special forward like Alex Tuch.
The Sabres started to run away with their series against Boston with Tuch's Game 3 game-winner, a crucial moment in a series that was air-tight until it really wasn't. The rest of the team started to take on the Cup-winner's confidence after that goal, and his four goals and seven points in six games paced the team headed into Round 2.
4. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
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It was a "slower" start to the post-season in MacKinnon's terms, but there's a reason he remained a betting favorite. His Game 2, one-goal and three-point explosion is the reason.
He's leading his undefeated team in points and ranks third in playoff scoring with 10 points in six games. It feels like it's going to be a very long run for the Avalanche this year, and MacKinnon will be at the heart of it all.
3. Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall, Carolina Hurricanes
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The tricky thing about early Conn Smythe talk when it comes to forwards? When certain lines are cooking, certain lines are cooking and it can be a truly close call on which individual player has the edge.
This has been a tremendous problem for the Hurricanes, as Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall have been carrying the undefeated team offensively. The Hurricanes are often plagued by a lack of depth scoring when the playoffs roll around, but so far this year, they've got the strongest -- or at least the most consequential -- second-line production of any playoff team.
Taylor Hall boasts three goals and nine points in six games, including Game 2's overtime thriller to keep his team undefeated. Logan Stankoven has had crucial play after crucial play, and it's amounted to six goals, two game-winners, and seven points in six games for the Hurricanes.
These two have created some healthy competition within their team Conn Smythe race, and I don't think anyone's complaining.
2. Alex Lyon
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The Sabres thrived in the first round without a typically huge component of postseason success: a productive power play.
They were able to do this through extremely timely even-strength goalscoring, excelling in the fundamentals like puck possession, and the emergence of Alex Lyon.
Lyon came in on the road and never looked back when the Sabres opted to switch it up after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's blunders in Game 2. Since then, Lyon is fourth among all playoff goaltenders with 4.6 goals saved above expected, second in goals against with 1.14, and second in save percentage with .955.
His stability in net -- especially jumping in on the road at a pivotal turning point in Round 1 -- almost made us forget how bad the Sabres' power play was. There's a chance the Sabres return to a tandem-like approach as they did in the regular season, but if Lyon runs away with the starting role he'll remain in the Conn Smythe conversation.
1. Freddie Andersen
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At his best, Andersen is among the calmest, coolest, and most collected netminders in the NHL, and boy, is he giving us his best this postseason. The 36-year-old continued to have a reduced regular-season workload, playing just 35 games, and his fresh legs are paying off in the postseason.
He ranks No. 1 among all playoff goaltenders by a considerable margin with 10.6 goals saved above expected according to MoneyPuck.com. He's also leading all playoff goaltenders in goals against (1.02) and save percentage (.958).
He's at the center of the Hurricanes' otherwordly penalty kill and the all-around defensive showcase they've put on so far. You never know what will happen as the rounds go on, but if the playoffs ended today, Andersen for Conn Smythe would be the runaway favorite.
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