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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
SUNRISE, Fla. – For many NHL players, a four-point performance in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, which would also break Wayne Gretzky’s playoff record, would be a career achievement.
For Connor McDavid, it was Saturday.
Edmonton Oilers winger Zach Hyman has witnessed a lot of magic in McDavid since becoming his teammate three seasons ago: McDavid contributed to the majority of Hyman’s 117 goals with the Oilers. But he was still impressed by McDavid’s feat in Game 4: setting a new NHL record for assists in a single playoffs (32), surpassing Gretzky’s record from 1988, while ranking fifth rank for the most points (38) in a single playoff series.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Hyman said. “I don’t think a lot of people thought Wayne’s stats were achievable. He’s the Great One. I think Connor is putting together one of the best playoff runs (of all time). He’s taken on that responsibility.”
McDavid has been everything for Edmonton, from his five-point night to start the playoffs to his heroics in Game 6 against the Dallas Stars to his seven points in the final, leading all scorers. If the Oilers rally to win the Stanley Cup after losing 3-0 to the Florida Panthers, McDavid should win the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP on balls.
But should it be Conn Smythe’s winner, win or lose for Edmonton?
THE POILERS BELIEVE the MVP is McDavid’s, no matter what the team does.
“For sure. He’s the one guy that consistently brings an elite level to every game for us,” defenseman Brett Kulak said. “Maybe people on the outside don’t see everything he does, but we feel his contribution and his impact on the team every night. He always brings that extra gear.”
Edmonton forward Dylan Holloway also believes McDavid is the playoff MVP, regardless if the Oilers don’t win the Cup.
“I think so. I mean, any time you break Gretzky’s record, it’s pretty special,” he said. “He’s been incredible so far for us. He’s such a great leader. So I think so, yeah.”
The Conn Smythe has been awarded 58 times. It was given to a player on the team that lost only five times in the Stanley Cup Finals. In four of those cases, the money went to a goaltender: Roger Crozier of the Detroit Red Wings (1966), Glenn Hall of the St. Louis Blues (1968), Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers (1987) and Jean-Sébastien Giguère from The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003).
Only one skater has won the Conn Smythe in a loss: Reggie Leach of the Flyers in 1976. The Flyers had won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, but were swept in the 1976 Stanley Cup Final by the Montreal Canadiens.
Like other seasons where a losing player won MVP, the Canadiens had some good candidates, but none stood out. Ken Dryden was 12-1 with a 1.92 goals-against average, but he had already won the award as a rookie in 1971 and was playing behind a steamroller that lost only once in en route to his seventh Stanley Cup since 1965. Guy LaFleur had a solid but unspectacular 17 points in 13 games. He would win the Conn Smythe in 1977 with 26 points in 14 games, for comparison.
Leach’s story is actually similar to McDavid’s: he led the playoffs in scoring while breaking NHL records.
Leach led the playoffs with 24 points in 16 games. His 19 goals set a Stanley Cup playoff record, breaking Montreal forward Yvan Cournoyer’s record of 15 goals in 17 games set in 1973. Leach scored nine of those goals in the Flyers’ semifinal victory. -final against the Boston Bruins, representing almost half of the Flyers. ‘ score in the series and set a modern-era NHL record for goals in a playoff series.
Leach’s victory at Conn Smythe was treated by the media as superficial, given his accomplishments. Sports Illustrated didn’t even report her MVP win in its gaming story. The New York Times didn’t mention Leach until the 13th paragraph of its article, just below a reference to the anthem singer of the Flyers, Kate Smith, and her “lime-colored ruffled dress.”
Like Reggie Leach, McDavid has:
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Led the playoffs by a considerable margin, eight points better than teammate Leon Draisaitl.
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Broke an NHL scoring record by leading his team to the Stanley Cup Final, passing Gretzky for assists.
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Accounts for the majority of his team’s offensive accomplishments. At the start of Game 5, McDavid has 38 points and the Oilers have scored 75 goals. McDavid is on track to become the second player in NHL history to account for more than half of his team’s goals in a seven-game playoff series. The other one was… who else? — Wayne Gretzky in 1988, with 43 points of Edmonton’s 84 goals.
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Was his team’s undisputed MVP while his opponents have multiple claims to Conn Smythe’s throne. ESPN BET has goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and captain Aleksander Barkov neck and neck for the MVP award.
Additionally, McDavid’s teammates view him as the catalyst for their return to the playoffs.
It goes back to the regular season, when Edmonton’s resurgence after a disastrous start had as much to do with McDavid finding his game as the team’s coaching change. In the playoffs, McDavid’s influential nature actually earned him another NHL record: most points (23) in games after a loss, surpassing Doug Gilmour (20 in 1993) for the most of points in a playoff year.
“Whenever our team’s back is against the wall, he’s the first to fight back,” Hyman said. “For us to come back, he has to be the best. He always seems to be the best when we’re in these situations.”
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McDavid sets assist record on Oilers’ 7th goal
Connor McDavid sets the single-season playoff assist record with his 32nd on a pass to Dylan Holloway.
THE PANTHERS HAVE several MVP candidates enter Game 5, and anecdotally, both Bobrovsky and Barkov have their supporters among the voters.
The path for Barkov is clear: make a big mark on the scoreboard in a Cup-deciding game, lead Florida in scoring in the playoffs, and exert his defensive will against McDavid’s line in this game. His 21 points are better than Matthew Tkachuk’s for the team leader.
Bobrovsky’s journey got a little more complicated after Game 4, when he was pulled in the second period after five Edmonton goals.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Bobrovsky’s 2.27 goals-against average would be the worst for a Conn Smythe-winning goaltender since Edmonton’s Bill Ranford won in 1990 with a 2.53 average. Ranford had a higher save percentage (.912) than Bobrovsky currently has (.909). In fact, Bob’s save percentage in the playoffs would be the second worst by a goaltender to win the Conn Smythe behind Hextall’s .908 save percentage in 1987, when he won the title. MVP in a losing effort.
As a reminder, 18 members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association voted for Conn Smythe. (In full disclosure, I’m not one of them.) They submit their top 3 to Conn Smythe via email 10 minutes into the third period of a potential Cup-winning game.
Voters can submit contingencies with their selections. For example, let’s say a voter likes Bobrovsky but warns that if Barkov scores the winning goal in a tied game at the time of voting, Barkov will be elevated to first place.
What happens in a Game 5 victory in Florida could ultimately decide which Panther wins over Conn Smythe.
But what would happen if Edmonton won to force Game 6?
Leach won MVP, as did Glenn Hall, but Crozier’s Red Wings lost in six games. The last two players from the losing teams that won the Conn Smythe both lost the Cup in the seventh game.
The longer the Stanley Cup Final goes on, the stronger McDavid’s case as “MVP, win or lose” could become, provided he continues to be the one to rally Edmonton.
But if you ask the Oilers, Connor McDavid should win the Conn Smythe regardless of the series outcome.
“He’s the captain of the team. It’s his leadership and his presence in the room. Off the ice. On practice days. The work he does sets the tone and sets the pace of each day.” , Kulak said. “It’s not easy to do that. So, in my opinion, I think it’s safe (he should win).”