Can McDavid win playoff MVP if the Oilers do not win the Cup?

SUNRISE, Fla. — For a lot of NHL gamers, a four-point efficiency in Sport 4 of the Stanley Cup Last that additionally shattered a Wayne Gretzky playoff document could be a profession achievement.

For Connor McDavid, it was a Saturday.

Edmonton Oilers winger Zach Hyman has witnessed loads of McDavid magic since changing into his teammate three seasons in the past — McDavid had a hand within the majority of Hyman’s 117 targets with the Oilers. However he was nonetheless in awe of McDavid’s accomplishment in Sport 4: setting an NHL document for assists in a single postseason (32), passing Gretzky’s document from 1988, whereas shifting into fifth place for many factors (38) in a single postseason.

“It is fairly unbelievable,” Hyman stated. “I do not suppose many individuals thought any of Wayne’s statistics had been attainable. He is The Nice One. I believe Connor is placing collectively among the finest postseasons [ever]. He is taken that onus.”

McDavid has been every little thing for Edmonton, from his five-point evening to begin the playoffs to his Sport 6 heroics in opposition to the Dallas Stars to his seven factors within the Last, main all scorers. If the Oilers by some means rally to win the Stanley Cup after falling 3-0 to the Florida Panthers, McDavid ought to win the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP in a stroll.

However ought to he be the Conn Smythe winner win or lose for Edmonton?

THE OILERS BELIEVE the MVP award is McDavid’s it doesn’t matter what the workforce does.

“For certain. He is the one man who constantly brings an elite stage play each sport for us,” defenseman Brett Kulak stated. “Perhaps folks on the surface trying in may not see every little thing he is doing, however we really feel his contributions and his impression on the workforce each single evening. He all the time brings that additional gear.”

Edmonton ahead Dylan Holloway additionally believes McDavid is the playoffs’ MVP, no matter whether or not the Oilers fall wanting the Cup.

“I believe so. I imply, anytime you beat Gretzky’s document, it is fairly particular,” he stated. “He is been unbelievable to date for us. He is such an incredible chief. So I believe so, yeah.”

The Conn Smythe has been awarded 58 instances. It has been given to a participant from the workforce that misplaced within the Stanley Cup Last simply 5 instances. In 4 of these circumstances, it has gone to a goaltender: Roger Crozier of the Detroit Pink Wings (1966), Glenn Corridor of the St. Louis Blues (1968), Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers (1987) and Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the Mighty Geese of Anaheim (2003).

Just one skater has captured the Conn Smythe in a shedding effort: Reggie Leach of the Flyers in 1976. The Flyers had gained back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, however they had been swept by the Montreal Canadiens within the 1976 Cup finals.

As in different seasons when a shedding participant gained the MVP, the Canadiens had sturdy candidates however not one who stood out. Ken Dryden was 12-1 with a 1.92 goals-against common, however he had already gained the award as a rookie in 1971 and was taking part in behind a steamroller that misplaced simply as soon as en path to its seventh Stanley Cup since 1965. Man LaFleur had a strong however unspectacular 17 factors in 13 video games. He would win the Conn Smythe in 1977 with 26 factors in 14 video games, for comparability’s sake.

The case for Leach is definitely much like the case for McDavid: Main the playoffs in scoring whereas shattering NHL information.

Leach led the playoffs in scoring with 24 factors in 16 video games. His 19 targets set a Stanley Cup playoff document, breaking Montreal ahead Yvan Cournoyer’s document of 15 targets in 17 video games set in 1973. Leach had 9 of these aim within the Flyers’ semifinals win over the Boston Bruins, accounting for practically half of the Flyers’ tallies within the collection and setting an NHL modern-era document for targets in a playoff collection.

Leach’s Conn Smythe win was handled by the media as perfunctory, given his accomplishments. Sports activities Illustrated did not even report his MVP win in its sport story. The New York Instances did not point out Leach till the thirteenth paragraph of its story, proper under a reference to Flyers anthem singer Kate Smith and her “flouncy, lime-colored costume.”

Like Reggie Leach, McDavid has:

• Led the playoffs in scoring by a substantial margin, eight factors higher than teammate Leon Draisaitl.

• Damaged an NHL scoring document in main his workforce to the Stanley Cup Last, by passing Gretzky in assists.

• Accounted for almost all of his workforce’s offensive accomplishments. Coming into Sport 5, McDavid has 38 factors, and the Oilers have scored 75 targets. That places McDavid on tempo to turn into simply the second participant in NHL historical past to account for over half his workforce’s targets in a best-of-seven postseason collection. The opposite was — who else? — Gretzky in 1988, with 43 factors on Edmonton’s 84 targets.

• Been the clear-cut MVP for his workforce whereas his opponents have a number of claims to the Conn Smythe throne. ESPN BET has Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and captain Aleksander Barkov neck-and-neck for MVP.

On high of that, McDavid’s teammates credit score him because the catalyst for his or her playoff comebacks.

That tracks again to the common season, when Edmonton’s resurgence after a disastrous begin had as a lot to do with McDavid discovering his sport because the workforce’s change in coaches. Within the playoffs, McDavid’s clutch nature truly gave him one other NHL document: most factors (23) in video games following a loss, passing Doug Gilmour (20 in 1993) for essentially the most in a single playoff yr.

“Any time our workforce’s backs are in opposition to the wall, he is the primary man to push again,” Hyman stated. “For us to return again, he is received to be the most effective. He appears to all the time be the most effective once we’re in these conditions.”

play

McDavid units help document on Oilers’ seventh aim

Connor McDavid units the single-season postseason assists document along with his thirty second on a go to Dylan Holloway.

THE PANTHERS HAVE a number of MVP candidates getting into Sport 5, and anecdotally, each Bobrovsky and Barkov have their supporters among the many voters.

The trail for Barkov is evident: Hit the scoreboard in a big approach in a Cup-clinching sport, lead Florida in postseason scoring and exert his defensive will in opposition to McDavid’s line in that sport. His 21 factors is one higher than Matthew Tkachuk for the workforce lead.

Bobrovsky’s path turned a little bit extra sophisticated after Sport 4, when he was pulled within the second interval after 5 Edmonton targets.

In keeping with ESPN Stats & Info, Bobrovsky’s 2.27 goals-against common could be the worst by a Conn Smythe-winning goaltender since Edmonton’s Invoice Ranford gained in 1990 with a 2.53 GAA. Ranford had a better save proportion (.912) than Bobrovsky at the moment has (.909). In truth, Playoff Bob’s save proportion could be the second worst by a goaltender to win the Conn Smythe behind Hextall’s .908 save proportion in 1987, when he gained MVP in a shedding effort.

As a reminder, there are 18 members of the Skilled Hockey Writers Affiliation who vote on the Conn Smythe. (In full disclosure, I’m not one in all them.) They submit their high three for the Conn Smythe through e mail by the 10-minute mark of the third interval of a possible Cup-clinching sport.

Voters can submit contingencies with their picks. For instance, to illustrate a voter likes Bobrovsky however features a caveat that if Barkov scores the sport winner in a sport that is tied on the time of the voting, Barkov will get elevated to No. 1.

What occurs in a Florida Sport 5 win might finally determine which Panther takes the Conn Smythe.

However what if Edmonton wins to drive Sport 6?

Leach gained the MVP in a sweep, as did Glenn Corridor, however Crozier’s Pink Wings misplaced in six video games. The final two gamers on shedding groups who gained the Conn Smythe each misplaced the Cup in Sport 7.

The longer the Stanley Cup Last goes, the stronger McDavid’s case as “MVP, win or lose” might get, supplied he continues to be the one who rallies Edmonton.

However in the event you ask the Oilers, McDavid ought to win the Conn Smythe whatever the collection end result.

“He is captain of the workforce. It is his management and presence within the room. Off the ice. On observe days. The work he is placing in, he is setting the tone and setting the tempo of day-after-day,” Kulak stated. “It is not simple to try this. So, for my opinion, I believe for certain [he should win].”