The Florida Panthers have achieved an impressive feat by reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive year, which is a significant rarity. Surprisingly, despite their consistent playoff success, no player from the team has yet received the Conn Smythe Trophy awarded to the playoff`s most valuable player.
This season marks the 60th anniversary of the first such award, which went to Montreal Canadiens legend Jean Béliveau in 1965. Since `Le Gros Bill` was recognized for an impressive 16 points (8 goals, 8 assists) in 13 games, only six teams – the late-60s St. Louis Blues, the mid-70s Philadelphia Flyers, the late-70s Habs, the early-1980s New York Islanders, the early-2020s Tampa Bay Lightning, and the current Panthers – have reached the Final three times in a row.
Five of these six teams won at least one championship and produced a Conn Smythe winner. Even the Blues, who largely reached the Final due to being the strongest team in the weaker expansion division after 1967, had a playoff MVP in Glenn Hall in 1968, despite their team losing three consecutive Finals.
Florida, naturally, lost the 2023 Cup Final in five games, with the MVP award going to Jonathan Marchessault of the Vegas Golden Knights. And while the Panthers achieved their ultimate goal by lifting the Cup twelve months ago, Edmonton`s Connor McDavid became just the sixth player to win the Conn Smythe while playing for the runner-up.
This places the Panthers, alongside the 1977 and ’78 Boston Bruins (who lost to the Canadiens on both occasions), as only the second team to appear in the Final two consecutive years without producing a Conn Smythe winner from their roster. (Technically, the 1969 and ’70 Blues also qualify, but we`re setting them aside due to Hall winning in 1968 and the unique situation of reaching the Final through an expansion team division).
The absence of a playoff MVP for Florida is even more astonishing considering how many players they have who seem born to thrive at this time of year: the versatile standard-bearer Aleksander Barkov, the generational power forward Matthew Tkachuk, the soon-to-be-paid Sam Bennett, overtime virtuoso Carter Verhaeghe, Sergei “Playoff Bob” Bobrovsky.
There`s certainly a reason this team managed a three-peat in the Eastern Conference.
Will Florida have its own playoff MVP this time around, regardless of the Final`s outcome? The field is strong, and many of the players we just mentioned are firmly in contention. Remember, the unofficial basis for Conn Smythe voting is rooted 50 percent in performance before the Final and 50 percent in performance during that showcase series.
So, here is our final ranking of contenders for the Conn Smythe Trophy in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
McDavid has the chance to become just the fourth player in league history to win the Conn Smythe two years in a row, following in the footsteps of Bernie Parent of Philadelphia (1974, ’75), Mario Lemieux of Pittsburgh (1991, ’92), and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins (2016, ’17).
McDavid leads the playoffs in points scored (26), points-per-game average (1.63), and even-strength points (22).
If the Oilers win the championship, it`s extremely difficult to imagine anyone other than No. 97 being recognized as the most crucial player.
2. Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
Draisaitl was one of three Oilers players (along with McDavid and another player we`ll mention shortly) who recorded nine points in five Western Conference Final games against the Stars. He is also the only player in these playoffs with two overtime winning goals.
Draisaitl and McDavid have both played 90 career playoff games; McDavid ranks third all-time in points-per-game average (1.59), and Draisaitl is fourth (1.48). Only Wayne Gretzky (1.84) and Mario Lemieux (1.61) rank higher than this exceptional Oilers duo.
Naturally, in the seven games against Florida in last year`s Final, Draisaitl was held without a goal and registered only three assists in the series.
You can certainly expect him to significantly improve upon those numbers this time around.
3. Sam Bennett, Florida Panthers
Bennett scored three goals in Round 1, three in Round 2, and four more in the Conference Final. In total, he is the leading scorer in the playoffs with 10 goals, three more than any other player participating in this Final.
If you thought his value as a UFA was already high before these playoffs began, just wait and see what happens now.
4. Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
Barkov`s offensive game has notably improved recently, with nine points in his last six games. Naturally, a key part of his job in this series will be containing McDavid. If Florida wins, it will likely be because Barkov successfully limited the impact of the league`s best offensive player. And if such a performance isn`t worthy of a Conn Smythe nod for Florida`s captain, we`re not sure what is.
5. Evan Bouchard, Edmonton Oilers
It`s easy to be overshadowed on a team featuring McDavid and Draisaitl. Nevertheless, Evan Bouchard`s production in recent playoffs is simply impossible to ignore.
Since the start of the 2023 Cup run, Bouchard has accumulated an incredible 66 points in 53 games. This is more than double the points tally of any other defenseman in the league (Miro Heiskanen is next with 32 points).
This season, he leads all defensemen with 17 points in 16 games and is averaging the most ice time per game (25:01) among all players participating in this Final.
