Wingers are flooding the Conn Smythe conversation again, with the last winger to win the award coming in 2023 and this year’s final debate driven by players including Auston Matthews’? (not in source), specifically Marner, Eichel, Hall and Stankoven, plus Gold
A winger has been named playoff MVP only 10 times since the Conn Smythe was first awarded in 1965 — and yet the 2026 Stanley Cup Final has the position buzzing like a pressure system.
The award’s history still looks familiar at first glance. Centres have won 21 times. Goalies have 17. Blue-liners take a dozen. But the narrative shift matters now: the last winger to claim Conn Smythe playoff MVP came in 2023. when Jonathan Marchessault scored 13 goals to tie Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl for the playoff lead and Vegas captured the Stanley Cup.
Marchessault, now with the Nashville Predators, is one of four wingers to win the Conn Smythe in the past 30 years. One of the most famous connections runs straight through the current Final opponent. Justin Williams — “Mr. Game 7” — won playoff MVP in 2014 with the L.A. Kings, eight years after he helped Carolina win its only title in 2006.
Other winger winners this century are Patrick Kane in 2013 and Alex Ovechkin in 2018. If another winger is added to that list by the end of this Final. it would come with a familiar kind of force: wingers are representing five of the top nine players in the Conn Smythe power ranking. including two of the top three.
The numbers behind that tilt start in the spring itself. Golden Knights’ Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev are on pace — if the Final goes at least six games — to become the first teammates with at least 14 goals apiece in a single playoff run since centres Sidney Crosby (15) and Evgeni Malkin (14) did it with the Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. Dorofeyev and Howden are tied for the goal-scoring lead with 10 tucks apiece.
There is also a reminder built into how Conn Smythe voting is understood. The unofficial formula splits consideration 50-50 between everything that came before the Final and what happens on the biggest stage. A huge Final can jump someone from lower on the list into the conversation.
That’s the lens for the final Conn Smythe power ranking of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Marner’s spring story has had its sharp turns. After an explosive second round with 11 points in six games versus the Anaheim Ducks. he cooled a bit in the Western Conference Final. The Vegas winger had three assists in four games against the Colorado Avalanche and was held without a point in two of the contests. Still, Marner’s 21 points and 11 primary assists both lead the playoffs.
Eichel is stacking up the kind of production that tends to follow teams all the way. His 16 helpers top the post-season charts and he is second behind Marner in scoring with 18 points. With all-around importance as Vegas’ top centre, Eichel is headed for serious Conn Smythe consideration.
Hall’s case runs on a different kind of dominance — relentless, suffocating, and measurable. He leads the playoffs with 14 five-on-five points in 13 games, and his 5.15 goals/60 minutes at five on five also tops the league.
Stankoven is leading the playoffs with seven five-on-five goals. and five of his nine tallies overall came when the game was within one goal. His three game-winning goals are tied with Brett Howden for the playoff lead. The context matters too: everyone on the Carolina Hurricanes has played at least three fewer games than the Golden Knights players who’ve suited up for 16 matches.
Between the pipes, the season’s end-game is starting to reward the men who can keep answers coming. Since Game 6 of the first round, Hart has a .935 save percentage in 12 outings. If things are cut off at Game 6 of the second round, that SP rises to .948. Hart has improved as the playoffs have gone on.
It’s easy for attention to drift away from Andersen because Carolina has been so dominant, winning 12 of 13 playoff contests. The numbers don’t support dismissing him, though. Freddy has a fantastic. playoff-best .931 save percentage through three rounds. and his 11.5 goals saved above expected are second only to Montreal hero Jakub Dobes (13.3). With as much rest as he’s received this spring. the expectation is that the veteran Andersen can finish strong in the Final.
7. Brett Howden, Vegas Golden Knights
Howden keeps refusing to hit the playoff wall. It’s an easy assumption that a regular-season 12-goal scorer eventually slows down — but Howden has kept rolling. the only Golden Knight to have at least two tallies in each of the first three rounds. He’s tied with Stankoven for the GWG lead with three. and if he gets a fourth short-handed goal in the Final. he’ll set the NHL record for a single post-season.
The least-celebrated member of the Canes’ best line just keeps producing. Four players are arriving in the Final with a point-per-game clip. and Blake (1.15) is one of them alongside Marner (1.31). Hall (1.23) and Eichel (1.13). At 22 years old, it’s a fourth-round find that has Carolina’s offense feeling dangerous across different phases.
9. Pavel Dorofeyev, Vegas Golden Knights
Dorofeyev’s goals have come in bunches this spring: four in a two-game stretch and six in another four-game run. If he can add five more in the Final, a playoff MVP is within reach.
The defenceman story is also sharpening as the Final approaches. Theodore leads all players remaining in the dance in averaging more ice time per game (25:29). He also has the most points of any defenceman in the Final with 11 in 16 contests. and his three even-strength goals are tied with Buffalo Sabres’ Mattias Samuelsson and Bowen Byram for the most by a blue-liner in the post-season.
11. K’Andre Miller, Carolina Hurricanes
Miller has shown why Carolina paid to get him from the New York Rangers a year ago, and he’s doing it in two key categories. He leads all Hurricanes defencemen in points with eight, all assists, and he’s posting 23:55 per game of ice time. His plus-14 mark leads the 2026 post-season.
Stone returned for the final two games against the Avs after missing the previous five Vegas contests, scoring a goal in each. He has a 5-5-10 line in 11 post-season outings this spring, and he could vault into Conn Smythe contention with a big Final.
MISRYOUM Sports News Conn Smythe Stanley Cup Playoffs 2026 Stanley Cup Final Auston? (not in source) winger MVP Marner Eichel Hall Stankoven Hart Andersen Howden Dorofeyev Theodore Miller Stone
Wingers always getting MVP love, what else is new.
So wait it says last winger won in 2023? That seems weird because I swear someone won it as a winger like last year? Maybe I’m mixing awards up. Either way Marner/Eichel/Hall/Stankoven in the convo sounds like hype to me.
Marchessault now with Nashville right? I didn’t realize he even went there lol. But also they mention Matthews like in the title and then he’s not even part of it, so I’m confused. Justin Williams “Mr. Game 7” shoulda won every time then, right? Anyway Conn Smythe is basically whoever has the most goals in the playoffs, no?
Conn Smythe power rankings buzzing already is kinda too early, like we haven’t even seen the final matchup fully play out. It says Gold A winger has been playoff MVP only 10 times since 1965 which… okay but why is the “Gold A” part in there, is that a team thing? Also if centers have won 21 times and goalies 17 then why are they acting like wingers are some rare species. I just want a goalie to win again, tired of wingers getting all the spotlight.