Stanley Cup Playoffs 2018: 5 Early Conn Smythe Candidates

So far, David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins has been the most impressive player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has nine points in his first two games, including a hat trick. Someone from the Bruins top forward line is going to win the Conn Smythe if they win the Cup. Brad Marchand has been extremely dominant as well, but he hasn’t been quite as good as Pastrnak.

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After putting up 80 points in the regular season, he’s budding in the postseason. Pastrnak should be a household name by the time the playoffs are over. He’s been the Bruins best player against the Toronto Maple Leafs by a wide margin.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned with Kucherov, the evil playoff format is going to force arguably the two best teams in the Eastern Conference to face each other in the second round. Washington Capitals fans know that feeling all too well. So one of Pastrnak or Kucherov will be out of the Conn Smythe race by the time the second round is over.

By getting six points against the Leafs in Game 2, he put himself in elite company. Only nine players, including Pastrnak, have gotten both a hat trick and at least six points in the same playoff game. He’s the youngest of the group to do so and the first since Johan Franzen in 2010.

Regardless of how the rest of the postseason goes, he’s been the breakout star of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. People should have known his name beforehand, but thanks to playing on the same line as Patrice Bergeron and Marchand, they probably didn’t. That’s not the case anymore.