The Florida Panthers have defied the odds by making a third straight Stanley Cup Final. They’re also an extreme anomaly when it comes to the fact that, despite their incredible playoff success, the Cats have yet to produce a Conn Smythe winner.
This spring marks the 60th anniversary of the first most valuable player of the post-season award being handed to Montreal Canadiens legend Jean Béliveau in 1965. Since ‘Le Gros Bill’ was rewarded for an incredible 8-8-16 showing 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 Lighting and the right-now Panthers have made three consecutive trips to the final.
Five of those clubs won at least a single championship and had at least one Conn Smythe winner to boot. And even the Blues — who made it largely based on being the best club on the weak, expansion side of the draw when the league was divided in half post-1967 — produced a playoff MVP in the form of Glenn Hall in 1968, even though that St. Louis club lost three straight Finals.
Florida, of course, lost the 2023 Cup Final in five games, when Jonathan Marchessault of the Vegas Golden Knights won MVP. And while the Cats got what everybody is really after 12 months ago when they lifted the Cup, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid became just the sixth player to win the Conn Smythe skating for the runner-up.
That makes the Panthers — along with the 1977 and ’78 Boston Bruins, who lost to the Canadiens on both occasions — just the second team to play in the Final two straight years and not produce a Conn Smythe winner. (Technically, the 1969 and ’70 Blues qualify, but we’re discounting them based on Hall winning in 1968 and the anomaly of reaching the Final through a division of expansion clubs).
The fact Florida doesn’t have a playoff MVP is even more mind-blowing when you consider how many players the Panthers have — two-way standard-bearer Aleksander Barkov, generational power forward Matthew Tkachuk, about-to-get-paid Sam Bennett, overtime virtuoso Carter Verhaeghe, Sergei “Playoff Bob” Bobrovsky — who truly seem born to thrive at this time of year.
Hey, there’s a reason this team managed an Eastern Conference three-peat.
Will Florida — win or lose — have a playoff MVP this time out? It’s a stacked field, but many of the names we just mentioned are firmly in the mix. Remember, the unofficial basis for Conn Smythe voting is its rooted 50 per cent in what you did before the Final and 50 per cent in what happens during that showcase series.
Here, then, is our final Conn Smythe power ranking of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
McDavid can become just the fourth back-to-back Conn Smythe winner in league history, following in the footsteps of Philly’s Bernie Parent (1974, ’75), Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux (1991, ’92) and Penguin Sidney Crosby (2016, ’17).
McDavid leads the playoffs in scoring (26 points), points-per-game (1.63) and even-strength points (22).
If the Oilers win this thing, it’s extremely hard to envision anybody other than No. 97 being identified as the most integral part of the operation.
2. Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
Draisaitl was one of three Oilers — along with McDavid and another guy we’ll get to shortly — who had nine points in five Western Conference Final games versus the Stars and he’s the only guy in these playoffs with two OT winners.
Draisaitl and McDavid have both played 90 career playoff contests; McDavid is third all-time with 1.59 points-per-game and Draisaitl is fourth at 1.48. Only Wayne Gretzky (1.84) and Mario Lemieux (1.61) rank higher than the outrageous Oilers duo.
Of course, Draisaitl was held without a goal in seven games versus Florida in the Final last year and finished with just three assists in the series.
You can bet he’s out to blow past those totals this time out.
3. Sam Bennett, Florida Panthers
Bennett had three goals in Round 1; three in Round 2 and four more in the Conference Final. Add it up and you’ve got the playoffs’ leading scorer with 10 tallies, three more than anybody else skating in this Final.
If you thought he was cashing in as a UFA before these playoffs began, just wait and see what happens now.
4. Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
Barkov’s offensive game has come together recently, with nine points in his past six games. Of course, a huge part of his job in this series will be trying to contain McDavid. If Florida wins, it will likely be because Barkov was able to limit the damage done by the game’s best offensive player. And if that’s not 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 get overshadowed on a team with McDavid and Draisaitl. That said, the way Evan Bouchard has produced in the past few playoffs is impossible to ignore.
Since the start of the 2023 Cup derby, Bouchard has an incredible 66 points in 53 contests. That’s more than double the number of points posted by any other defenceman in the league (Miro Heiskanen is next with 32 points).
This time out, he leads all blue-liners with 17 points in 16 outings and is averaging the most ice per game (25:01) of anybody suiting up in this Final.
5. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida Panthers
It took a minute for Bobrovsky to find top form, but he’s dialled in now. After posting an .875 save percentage through his first eight playoff games this year, the 36-year-old has a .944 mark in his past nine outings.
Bobrovsky now ranks third in terms of career playoff wins (57) among active goalies, trailing only Andrei Vasilevskiy (67) and Marc-Andre Fleury (92 and, yes, we’re still counting him for now).
6. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton Oilers
Nugent-Hopkins took a big leap in the West Final, matching McDavid and Draisaitl with nine points versus Dallas. The support staff is always so critical in determining outcomes against the best competition for Edmonton and ‘The Nuge’ remains the best forward on this club after the two big boys.
Nearly 15 years after being a first-overall pick in 2011, Nugent-Hopkins is having the best spring of his career — 18 points in 16 outings — and remains a vital player on both sides of the puck.
7. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers
Tkachuk did not play from late February until the start of the playoffs thanks to a groin injury sustained at the 4 Nations Face-Off. In Game 1 of the playoffs, he immediately reminded us of the force he can be with two goals and three points versus Tampa.
Then, in his next dozen games, Tkachuk scored just a single goal.
The big guy seemed to find his offensive form against an overmatched Carolina squad, though, netting seven points in five Conference Final contests.
Can Tkachuk put his stamp — in the numerous ways he imprints it — all over this Final and walk away with MVP? Yes, but he’ll have to do much better than the one-goal, three-point showing he had in last year’s series versus Edmonton.
8. Brad Marchand, Florida Panthers
Though two rounds, Marchand was tied with Eetu Luostarinen for the Panthers scoring lead with 12 points in as many games. Though they cooled offensively in the Conference Final, the third line of Anton Lundell between Marchand and Luostarinen has been massive for a Florida team that lives to grind you down.
It would take a monster Final for Marchand to win MVP, but — who’s kidding who — his profile helps and keeps a Conn Smythe at least within the realm of possibility if he were to net, say, four goals in the series, including one overtime winner.
9. Corey Perry, Edmonton Oilers
Basically, see above. If Perry — tied for the Oilers goal-scoring lead with Draisaitl on seven goals — can bag a handful more in the Final, he’ll have to be considered for MVP.
Could you imagine if, at age 40, Perry not only got his second Cup after four disappointing trips in the past five years, but took home the Conn Smythe?
10. Stuart Skinner, Edmonton Oilers
He must be mentioned.
The cleanliness with which this Oilers defence is breaking pucks out of the zone this spring has been a revelation in Edmonton. Still, let’s not overlook Skinner’s role in this club looking more capable than ever in its own end of the rink.
Redemption stories always play beautifully in sports and here’s a guy often cited as the weak link of this club. That was especially true after he began the playoffs with two straight L’s to the Los Angeles Kings and lost his job to Calvin Pickard. An injury to Pickard provided Skinner with another chance, though, and the Edmonton native has a .944 save percentage in his past seven games.
11. A Panthers Defenceman
Nobody is playing out of their skates, but three guys merit some consideration. Seth Jones is averaging the most ice time in the team; Aaron Ekblad has 11 points in just 13 outings and Gustav Forsling will be asked to muffle No. 97 for the next two weeks.
A stunning job by any of the three in the Final could result in a Conn Smythe.
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