At the end of the day, win or lose, rain or shine, Connor McDavid may very well walk away with the 2024 Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoff’s Most Valuable Player. However, we are not here to debate who should win it, because if the Edmonton Oilers win the Cup, McDavid is a shoo-in for the award. If the Florida Panthers are able to hang on, it is likely, but perhaps not totally favourable, that McDavid won’t capture the award. In contrast, what we are here today to talk about, other than McDavid, who would win the playoff MVP for the Oilers? Let’s take a look at the candidates, and try to figure this one out.
The Edmonton Oiler Players’ Race for the 2024 Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP
We can start by quickly answering why McDavid would win it. For starters, he is currently on a two-span that has seen him be more productive than any other player in history with eight points during a Stanley Cup Final. Therefore, with his back-to-back four-point nights, in Games 4 and 5, he has almost single-handedly carried the Oilers through their first two elimination games. Also, McDavid’s 42 points thus far, is the fourth most in NHL playoff history. The captain of the Oilers will win the Conn Smythe in 2024 if the Oilers win the cup, and given the lack of an obvious answer from the Florida Panthers, he may actually win if the Panthers claim the Silver Chalice.
However, there are three Oilers that come to mind for our discussion. They are players who would ordinarily be favourite to win the Conn Smythe if not for McDavid. Those three players are none other than Leon Draisaitl, Stuart Skinner, and Evan Bouchard. Let’s start by looking at the defenceman of the group, and the one that may be the top selection.
As the Stanley Cup Finals Begin, Edmonton Oiler Players Chasing History
Evan Bouchard as the Oilers Playoff Runner-up to the MVP
Evan Bouchard, along with McDavid, is having a playoff to remember, especially in terms of individual scoring accomplishments. Not only did McDavid break Wayne Gretzky‘s record for most assists in a single post-season (Gretzky’s record was 31, McDavid is now at 34). Moreover, Bouchard broke Paul Coffey‘s playoff assist record for defencemen. Bouchard currently sits at 26. That’s just one more than Coffey’s former record (25) from way back in the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Overall from an offensive standpoint, Bouchard is having a fabulous playoff. He’s second in the entire league in scoring believe it or not. He has six goals and 26 assists for 32 points, which trails only McDavid who leads. Bouchard plays nearly 25 minutes a night. When you are playing that much, you face many tough matchups throughout the course of a playoff game. Also, his work on the power play, and unleashing his hard slap shot has been commendable.
Consider that the league average among defencemen for shots between 90 and 100 miles-per-hour (MPH) is one in the playoffs. Bouchard has an incredible 35 of those such shots, firmly placing him in the 99th percentile. Bouchard has a tremendous shot, and most importantly, is able to unleash it consistently. As we can see, there are plenty of reasons why Evan Bouchard could make a run for the second-best Edmonton Oiler playoff MVP.
Leon Draisaitl Could Be the Oilers Playoff MVP Too
Next up for second Oiler playoff MVP is none other than Dr. Drai applying the beats, Leon Draisaitl. Like McDavid, and after 2023-24 perhaps Bouchard too, but one thing is for certain, all three are going to be among the Edmonton Oiler team scoring leaderboard. In terms of the regular season, you have to go all the way back to McDavid’s rookie season when the last time that McDavid and Draisaitl weren’t one-two in team scoring.
That season, former first overall Oiler pick, Taylor Hall, won the Oilers scoring race with 65 points. Draisaitl was second with 51 and McDavid third with 48. Also, the only season that Draisaitl topped McDavid was 2019-20. It is a similar picture when you focus on playoff statistics. McDavid and Draisaitl find themselves fully intertwined with the all-time leaders when looking at points-per-game in the playoffs, with a minimum 40 games played. McDavid is second with a PPG of 1.63, having recently surpassed Mario Lemieux at 1.61. Meanwhile, despite Draisaitl’s mini-slump he finds himself in recently, his 1.49 PPG is good for fourth all-time.
Speaking of the mini-slump, and why Draisaitl may have fallen off pace slightly, has been the noticeable dichotomy of his 2024 playoff scoring production. He started the playoffs with an incredible 13-game point streak, tallying nine goals and adding 16 assists. Since that point, Draisaitl has not been nearly as consistent. In the 10 games since, he has a lone goal, and four helpers. This has allowed the aforementioned Bouchard to pass him in points. Yes, it does seem that Draisaitl has a lot of the attributes to capture a playoff MVP. Conversely, based on our discussion, and his personal tale of two different playoffs (the successful beginning and the trying ending), it seems that in 2024, he would lose out to Evan Bouchard in the (hypothetical) Conn Smythe race.
And Finally, the Goalie
The last shot to overtake Bouchard for the silver medal of the Oilers team Conn Smythe award, would be the last line of defence, Stuart Skinner. Skinner does have a similar playoff trait as Draisaitl in 2024. That similar trait being that it has been a bit of a story of two distinct playoff performances. One of those stories is just okay, and the other is amongst the best in the playoffs. Stuart Skinner was prone to inconsistency, especially noteworthy through the first two rounds of the playoffs. However, since Skinner was sat in the Vancouver Canucks series for a pair of games, he has really turned it on.
| 1st 8 Games | 13 Games Since | |
| GAA | 3.24 | 2.13 |
| SV% | .877 | .912 |
| Record | 5-3 | 8-5 |
| SO | 1 | 0 |
Realistically, if it weren’t for the nine goals he surrendered in the first three games of the final, he would be in contention. His GAA, SV%, and record had the potential to each be better. In contrast, it is fair to consider that he is the club’s starting goalie. In addition, he keeps getting the job done. Like the message Gretzky used to use when discussing his goalie in the 1980s for the Oilers, Grant Fuhr, you just have to save the last one. The fact that Skinner has carried his club within two wins of the Stanley Cup backs that argument up for him.
There you have it, our guesses. Our guesses at who would be the Oilers playoff MVP, if Connor McDavid were not the clear front-runner. Between the three, given his consistent play, and awesome offensive productivity, the defenceman on our list would in all likelihood, win out.
Main photo credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
