There’s no clear favorite for the Conn Smythe
Tuesday night’s Game 6 between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers from Sunrise will be the first where the 2024-2025 NHL season could come to an end.
That means, if the Panthers convert their 3-2 series lead into a win, the Conn Smythe Trophy will be handed out after the game to the player voted as the most valuable during the playoffs.
Unlike last year when Connor McDavid earned the award despite the fact that Edmonton lost the series to Florida, it’s a virtual certainty that a Panther would take the trophy, with forwards Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand leading the way.
On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and Insider and President of Hockey Content Frank Seravalli discussed the four main contenders for the trophy and what could separate the two Florida contenders from one another.
Tyler Yaremchuk: It’s interesting to see the way that the Conn Smythe odds have flipped from Sergei Bobrovsky being the runaway number one on the Florida side, to now it’s Bennett and then Marchand and Bobrovsky’s actually a distant third. How much of your vote is still undecided for that top spot?
Frank Seravalli: I think it’s pretty undecided, I would say. I’m comfortable in saying right now that the number one spot for me comes down to one of four people. It’s Marchand or Bennett if the Panthers win, and it’s Draisaitl leading and McDavid second if the Oilers win. I don’t know yet and haven’t decided, I’ve spent a lot of time wrestling with it and thinking about it, what happens between Marchand and Bennett. Maybe in a clinching scenario if one of them has a bigger game that gives the other one a slight edge. It’s undeniable what Sam Bennett has done so far to this point in the postseason, leading the postseason in goals… but Brad Marchand, three game winners. He’s been in huge moments, and yes, Sam Bennett has five goals in this Cup final, but it seems like the goals that Brad Marchand has scored have been more consequential, fair to Bennett or not.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…