Connor McDavid Wins Conn Smythe Trophy Despite Oilers' Stanley Cup Final Loss

Author:

Olivia Phillips

|Published: June 25th, 2024

Despite losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers on Monday night, Edmonton OilersOilers' forward Connor McDavid still came home with some silverware, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

One day later, the Professional Hockey Writers Association released their votes, revealing that the Oilers' captain was nearly the unanimous playoff MVP, receiving 16 out of a possible 17 first-place votes.

The only voter who did not have McDavid first was ESPN's Ryan S. Clark, who chose Panthers' goalie Sergei Bobrovsky as his top choice.

The 27-year-old McDavid became the first skater from a losing team to win the Conn Smythe Trophy since the Philadelphia Flyers' Reggie Leach did so in 1976, and the first player to do it since Anaheim Mighty Ducks' goaltender Jean-Sebastian Gigeure in 2003.

Panthers' forward Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Gustav Forsling finished second and third in voting, respectively, while Bobrovsky and Carter Verhaeghe also received votes for Florida.

On Edmonton, Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Stuart Skinner also appeared on ballots.

McDavid was an offensive force throughout the postseason, leading all players in assists (34) and points (42).

He became just the third player in NHL history to hit the 40-point mark in a single playoff season, joining legends Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

McDavid, who already broke Gretzky's record for most assists in a single playoff season, was also five points away from tying his record for most points in a single postseason (47), which Gretzky set in 1985.