There are 24 teams with a chance to win the Stanley Cup in a tournament that begins Saturday. That means there are, at minimum, 24 players with a chance to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, which is given to player voted most valuable for his team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Here is one contender from each team:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Boston Bruins: Tuukka Rask, goalie
The Bruins were the best team in the NHL this season (44-14-12, 100 points) largely because of Rask, who was first in save percentage (.929) and goals-against average (2.12) among goalies who appeared in at least 35 games. He was 26-8-6 in 41 appearances, all starts. He is 50-39 with seven shutouts, a .927 save percentage and 2.19 GAA in 89 playoff games.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Andrei Vasilevskiy, goalie
The Lightning will run into opponents that will be able to limit their high-powered offense. That’s what makes Vasilevskiy so important to their success. He led the League this season with 35 wins and finished with a .917 save percentage and 2.56 GAA. When the Lightning reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2018, losing in Game 7 against the Washington Capitals, Vasilevskiy started every game and had a 2.58 GAA and .918 save percentage.
Washington Capitals: Nicklas Backstrom, center
Backstrom is as important to the Capitals as left wing Alex Ovechkin because he’s often the one setting Ovechkin up for his shot. Backstrom has been one of the League’s dominant two-way centers for years. He had 54 points (12 goals, 42 assists) this season and has 106 points (36 goals, 70 assists) in 123 career playoff games.
Philadelphia Flyers: Sean Couturier, center
Couturier is arguably the Flyers’ most important skater because of his two-way game. He’s a finalist for the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward. He scored 59 points (22 goals, 37 assists) in 69 games. He led the NHL in face-off winning percentage (59.6 percent) among players who took at least 500 face-offs. He won 59.5 percent of his draws in the defensive zone. He also had a 56.1 shot-attempts percentage and plus-21 rating. He had nine points (five goals, four assists) in five playoff games in 2018.
Malkin, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 2009, had what by all accounts was an excellent training camp in advance of Phase 4. He’ll try to build on a strong regular season, when he had 74 points (25 goals, 49 assists) in 55 games, two more points than he had last season in 13 fewer games.
Carolina Hurricanes: Sebastian Aho, center
The Hurricanes’ strength is in their defensive game, but Aho is a huge part of making that work because he’s one of their most effective two-way centers and penalty killers. He’s also their leading scorer after finishing this season with 66 points, including a career-high 38 goals.
New York Islanders: Mathew Barzal, center
Similar to the Hurricanes, the Islanders’ strength is in keeping the puck out of their net. But to advance deep in the postseason, they’re going to need production from their best offensive player. Barzal led the Islanders with 60 points (19 goals, 41 assists) in 68 games.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Frederik Andersen, goalie
The Maple Leafs are much like the Lightning in that their high-powered offense might be able to carry them at times, but they won’t go anywhere without elite goaltending. Andersen was 29-13-7 with a 2.85 GAA and .909 save percentage in 52 appearances, all starts, this season. Toronto was 7-12-2 and allowed 3.89 goals per game when Andersen didn’t play.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Seth Jones, defenseman
Jones has to play 25-plus minutes and be a force on both ends of the ice for the Blue Jackets to have a chance against Toronto in the Qualifying Round. If Columbus goes on a run this postseason, it will be on the backs of players like Jones, who had 30 points (six goals, 24 assists) in 56 games this season before breaking his ankle on Feb. 8.
Florida Panthers: Aleksander Barkov, center
Barkov is in the same mold as Couturier, Backstrom and Aho in that he’s the most important two-way player on his team. He had 62 points (20 goals, 42 assists) in 66 games this season, playing 20:01 per game and winning 54.3 percent of his face-offs.
New York Rangers: Mika Zibanejad, center
Zibanejad was the hottest player in the League when the season was paused on March 12, leading the League with 23 goals and 36 points in 22 games from Jan. 31-March 11. He plays in all situations and will have to pick up where he left off for the Rangers to have a chance at going on a playoff run.
The Canadiens will go as Price goes and hope that it’s enough. If he plays well, they’ll have a chance to defeat the Penguins in the qualifying round and go on a run after that. Price was 27-25-6 with a .909 save percentage and 2.79 GAA this season.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
St. Louis Blues: Jordan Binnington, goalie
Binnington was among the top candidates to win the Conn Smythe Trophy last season, when the Blues won the Stanley Cup; he had a 2.46 GAA and .914 save percentage in 26 starts (16-10). Blues center Ryan O’Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy. Binnington followed his playoff heroics this season by going 30-13-7 with a 2.56 GAA and .912 save percentage.
Colorado Avalanche: Nathan MacKinnon, center
If MacKinnon is scoring, the Avalanche are typically winning. He’s a finalist for the Hart Trophy after finishing the regular season with 93 points (35 goals, 58 assists) in 69 games. He scored at least one point in 53 games. The Avalanche went 34-12-7 when he had at least one point, but were 7-8-1 when he didn’t.
Vegas Golden Knights: Mark Stone, right wing
Stone is arguably the NHL’s best and most versatile two-way wing. He scores because he’s a part of the offense and he creates his own with his defense. Stone had 63 points (21 goals, 42 assists) in 65 games. He was also tied for second in the League in takeaways (78) and alone in second in takeaways per 60 minutes (3.70) among players who appeared in at least 15 games.
Dallas Stars: Ben Bishop, goalie
The Stars are a defensive-oriented team that relies on Bishop to keep the scores low. That makes him a prime Conn Smythe Trophy candidate if Dallas is able to go on a run. Bishop was 21-16-4 with a .920 save percentage and 2.50 GAA this season. The Stars led the Western Conference and were second in the League in goals-against per game (2.52).
McDavid had 97 points (34 goals, 63 assists) in 64 games. His teammate, center Leon Draisaitl, led the League with 110 points (43 goals, 67 assists) in 71 games and could easily be Edmonton’s Conn Smythe Trophy favorite too. But McDavid is still the most feared player in the game and the one who leads the Oilers.
Nashville Predators: Roman Josi, defenseman
Josi has to play a shutdown role and an offensive role for the Predators to have success; he did each so well this season that he’s a Norris Trophy finalist. He led Nashville and was second among all defenseman with 65 points (16 goals, 49 assists) in 69 games. He averaged 25:47 of ice time per game, the most of any skater on the 24 teams competing for the Cup.
Vancouver Canucks: Jacob Markstrom, goalie
The Canucks can score and play with pace, but they won’t go anywhere if Markstrom is just ordinary. He was 23-16-4 with a .918 save percentage and 2.75 GAA. The Canucks allowed 33.3 shots on goal per game, fourth most in the League.
Calgary Flames: Johnny Gaudreau, left wing
Gaudreau’s production was down this season from last season. He averaged 0.83 points per game (58 points; 18 goals, 40 assists in 70 games) after averaging 1.21 points per game last season (99 points; 36 goals, 63 assists in 82 games). Of all the Flames players, though, Gaudreau is the one most likely to get hot enough to carry the team.
Hellebuyck was arguably the best goalie in the League this season, and even with the Jets’ ability to score in bunches, he’ll have to be their difference maker in the playoffs. Hellebuyck had a .922 save percentage, fifth among goalies who appeared in at least 30 games, despite facing the most shots in the League (1,796). The four goalies ahead of him in save percentage averaged 938 shots against.
Minnesota Wild: Ryan Suter, defenseman
Suter is the definition of minute-muncher (24:38 per game this season) whose overall play makes a difference. He won’t wow anyone with offensive numbers, though he was ninth among all defenseman with 48 points (eight goals, 40 assists) this season. It’s his overall game — playing in a shutdown role against top lines and playing in all situations, including power play and penalty kill — that make him the Wild’s most impactful player.
Arizona Coyotes: Darcy Kuemper, goalie
Of the 14 teams this season that averaged fewer than 3.00 goals per game, the Coyotes and Stars were the only two that scored more than they gave up (2.71-2.61). The big reason was goaltending, especially when Kuemper was playing. He was limited to 29 starts because of injury, but he had a .928 save percentage and 2.22 GAA. The Coyotes were 16-11-2 in his starts.
Chicago Blackhawks: Patrick Kane, right wing
Kane, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2013, had 84 points (33 goals, 51 assists) in 70 games this season. If the Blackhawks are going to go on a run, Kane will likely be their leading scorer, with several multipoint games.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.
Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.
The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.
DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.
RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.
Takeaways
Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.
Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.
Key moment
The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.
Key stat
Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.
Up next
Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.
Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.
“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.
“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”
The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.
The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.
First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.
Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.
No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.
“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.
Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.
“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.
This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.
The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.
“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”
Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.
Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.
“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”
The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.
Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.
“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”
LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.
“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.
The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.
Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.
“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.
“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”
Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.
Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.
Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.
Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
