The second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs are still ongoing, but it’s deep enough into the post-season to take a serious look at the candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Earlier on Thursday, Coach’s Corner host Ron MacLean touted Tyler Johnson of Tampa Bay Lightning during a guest appearance on Sportsnet 590 The Fan.
Johnson isn’t the only candidate that’s deserving of the prestigious prize, so we’ve decided to weigh in and rank our own top three Conn Smythe picks:
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Lewis’ picks:
1. Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals — Among goaltenders still active in the 2015 playoffs, Holtby is the leader in save percentage (.950) and goals-against average (1.48). He’s also faced more shots than any other goaltender with 302 against. Holtby has been the best goaltender in the post-season thus far and he’s playing behind a defence with three players sporting sub-50% Corsi for totals (Tim Gleason, Matt Niskanen, Brooks Orpik).
2. Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks — Keith leads all defencemen in playoff scoring with two goals and eight assists. When Keith is on the ice, which is a whopping average of 30:44 per game, pucks go one way. The two-time Norris Trophy winner’s 57.48 Corsi for percentage is tops among defenceman still hanging around in the post-season (min. 100 minutes played).
3. Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks — Perry hasn’t scored series-saving and buzzer-beating goals quite like Tampa’s Tyler Johnson, but he’s been a much more dominant player overall. Perry leads all post-season scorers with 14 points in seven games.
Simmons’ picks:
1. Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks — No doubt Tyler Johnson has been great, but Corey Perry has been a more efficient producer. Perry not only leads the NHL in post-season scoring, accumulating three goals and 11 assists in seven playoff games, but he has three more points than Johnson in three less games. Sure, some of that is inflated by a four-point game against the Calgary Flames, but you can’t knock Perry’s consistency. He has registered at least one point in his last five playoff games.
2. Tyler Johnson, Tampa Bay Lightning — His PDO may indicate he’s the luckiest man on the planet, but where would the Lightning be without him? The Lightning forward not only leads the league in playoff goals (eight), but the timeliness of those goals (three game-winners) have been a huge factor for Tampa Bay.
The Lightning wouldn’t be alive in the playoffs if it wasn’t Johnson’s Game 4 performance in Round 1– he registered two goals and three points in a thrilling overtime comeback victory — against the Detroit Red Wings. Johnson also came up huge again Wednesday night, scoring the game-winning goal in the final seconds of Game 3 to suck the life out of the Montreal Canadiens.
3. Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals — It was hard to not include Duncan Keith, Patrick Kane, or even Alex Ovechkin, but the play of the Capitals goaltender has been far too good to ignore. Holtby has posted a ridiculous .950 save percentage with an equally-impressive goals-against average. He has carried the Capitals to a 3-1 series lead over the favoured New York Rangers.
