We're through two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which means only four teams are left standing. Below is each club's top Conn Smythe Trophy candidate ahead of the conference finals. You can vote for your selection at the end of the post.
Erik Karlsson
Cory Wilkins: Of the four teams left in the playoff picture, three clubs have two or three players who've arguably been the most valuable this postseason.
Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg in Anaheim. Marc-Andre Fleury and Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh. Pekka Rinne and Ryan Ellis in Nashville. But who's that second player in Ottawa?
The gap between Erik Karlsson and the next best Senators player is best illustrated by this stat: When Karlsson is on the ice, the Senators are plus-six at five-on-five. When he takes the odd breather, that number dips substantially - the Senators are minus-eight at even strength when Karlsson's on the bench.
Fortunately for Senators fans, Karlsson hasn't needed many breaks this postseason, despite the breaks in his left foot. In Game 5 against the New York Rangers, he played 5:33 of the final 6:35 of regulation.
His performance was even more impressive in the series clincher over the Blueshirts, as Karlsson skated for 6:27 of the last 8:14 in the 4-2 road win. Talk about valuable.
The Flower
Ian McLaren: If there was any doubt about Marc-Andre Fleury's present value to the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was all but erased with a road shutout win over the Washington Capitals in Game 7.
"We're not in this position if he doesn't play the way he has," Sidney Crosby said after the victory, which propelled the Penguins back to the Eastern Conference Final.
An MVP endorsement if ever there was one.
Fleury wasn't expected to add to his postseason numbers as a member of the Penguins, seeing as he'd been relegated to the bench in favor of Matt Murray during last year's playoffs. The rookie supplanted the veteran after the latter fell prey to a late-season injury, and made good on the opportunity by taking the Penguins all the way to a Stanley Cup win. The two entered 2016-17 in an apparent platoon situation, but with the understanding that Murray was the guy now and moving forward.
But as fate would have it, Murray himself suffered an injury prior to Game 1 of Pittsburgh's first-round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets in April, and Fleury picked up the familiar ball and ran with it.
Through two series victories, Fleury - playing behind a Penguins blue line missing Kris Letang, Mark Streit, and Trevor Daley - has an 8-4 record and .927 save percentage, putting himself firmly in the Conn Smythe Trophy conversation as Pittsburgh's strong last line of defense.
Ryan Getzlaf
Craig Hagerman: Ryan Getzlaf has put the Anaheim Ducks on his back this postseason and carried them into the conference finals.
After scoring three goals in the Ducks' opening-round sweep of the Calgary Flames, the captain was even more impressive in Round 2 against the Edmonton Oilers. Getzlaf finished with five goals and 10 points in seven games, tying a Ducks record for playoff points in a single series.
The Ducks found the back of the net 21 times against the Oilers, meaning the 32-year-old had a hand in nearly half of his team's goals.
Getzlaf has played the fourth-most minutes among all forwards these playoffs, while his 23:54 average ice time per game ranks second among all forwards, behind only Patrick Kane (who played just four games in the first round). Getzlaf's also been a machine in the faceoff circle, with a 54.6 percent success rate. He's second on Anaheim with 31 hits, and leads the club in blocks while ranking third in takeaways.
No. 15's done it all for the Ducks. If Getzlaf can propel the team to eight more wins, there's no question he'll be this season's Conn Smythe Trophy winner.
Pekka Rinne
Navin Vaswani: Pekka Rinne's played 10 games this postseason. He's allowed 14 goals.
The 94-point Nashville Predators are in the conference finals for the first time in franchise history, having knocked off the 109-point Chicago Blackhawks in four games and the 99-point St. Louis Blues in six games. It's difficult to lose when your goalie stops 95.1 percent of the 288 shots fired his way.
After posting a .908 save percentage in 66 starts in 2015-16, and a .902 mark in an injury-shortened 2013-14, there was some talk that Rinne, perhaps, couldn't get Nashville where it wanted to go. His .909 save percentage in six playoff games in 2015 and his .906 in 14 playoff games last spring didn't help. He's getting up there in years, after all, as the Finn plays his age-34 season.
But Rinne rebounded, posting a respectable .918 save percentage in 61 starts this season. Turns out, he was saving himself for the playoffs.
The Predators goalie leads all postseason netminders in save percentage (.951), goals-against average (1.37), and is tied with the now-departed Cam Talbot with two shutouts. The most impressive statistic, though, may be Rinne's NHL-leading .957 save percentage at even strength. He's about as locked in as locked in gets at the moment.
Nashville's winning as a team. Defenseman Ryan Ellis is the club's leading scorer with four goals and nine points (he's tied with Ryan Johansen, who has nine points but only two goals). Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg have eight points, while P.K. Subban has seven.
The system's working, and Rinne's benefiting. If the Predators win the Stanley Cup, he'll hoist two trophies.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)
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