Rightly or wrongly, a player's career is often defined by their accomplishments in the postseason.

Here are three players who have been walking the walk through three rounds and who can rewrite their legacies in this year's Stanley Cup Final:

P.K. Subban

For whatever reason, the Montreal Canadiens did not think they could win with P.K. Subban, and in less than a year, he's on the verge of doing just that as a member of the Nashville Predators.

Yes, Subban is a member of arguably the best group of defensemen in the league, but he's hardly being carried along the way; rather, he's doing much of the heavy lifting.

Through 16 playoff games, Subban is averaging the second-most ice time among Predators defensemen (25:52, four seconds behind Roman Josi), and is tied with Josi for second in points with 10 (two goals, eight assists), one behind Ryan Ellis.

Subban also ranks first among his mates with a 54.15 Corsi For rating in five-on-five play, and not because he's being deployed in the offensive zone on a regular basis.

Subban has also continued to be criticized even during this playoff run, most notably by NBC's Mike Milbury, who called him a clown for daring to do a little dance during pregame warmups.

Should the Predators prevail in the final, you can bet Subban will be dancing at the parade and through the summer, and rightfully so, as both a Norris Trophy winner and a Stanley Cup champion.

(Advanced stats courtesy: Corsica Hockey)

Evgeni Malkin

Let's be perfectly clear, Malkin is not simply Sidney Crosby's sidekick, and his career achievements are already the envy of most, as evidenced by his packed trophy case.

Yet when the NHL named its 100 Greatest Players back on Jan. 1, the Pittsburgh Penguins center was inexplicably omitted.

It was a gross oversight, and one that looks even sillier as Malkin sits first in playoff scoring through three rounds with seven goals and 17 assists for 24 points, four ahead of Crosby.

A third Cup and a second Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP would most certainly rank Malkin among the very best players of all time, even if he's not appreciated by the very league he's excelled in over the past decade.

Pekka Rinne

Despite being a three-time finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie during the regular season, Rinne has never really been viewed as a truly elite goaltender.

But going back to the 2006 playoffs, the first after the 2004-05 lockout, only one goalie to win at least 12 playoff games in a single postseason has topped Rinne's .941 save percentage.

Rinne will be in tough to improve upon or even maintain that save percentage while earning four more wins over the Penguins, but it should be noted that his best single-round performance came against the Chicago Blackhawks, to whom he allowed only three goals against in a four-game first-round sweep, posting a save percentage of .976.

If he, with help from Nashville's formidable defense corps, can similarly flummox the Penguins and backstop his team to its first ever Cup win, there'll be far less reason, if any, to question his abilities.

Rinne only needs to look at the other bench during the final to be reminded that a young buck like Juuse Saros could supplant him as the starter at some point in the near future, meaning the time to cement his legacy in Nashville is now.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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