2. Scott Stevens (2000)
Scott Stevens is probably the best defenseman in NHL history who never won a Norris Trophy (though Shea Weber also has a strong case for the dubious distinction). He probably should have. But he did win the Conn Smythe in 2000. However, the reasons why Stevens won are shady at best.
First of all, Stevens only had 11 points in 23 games. Sure, he averaged over 25 minutes per game during the 2000 postseason. But other than his two game-winning goals, he didn’t contribute much on offense.
Usually, when a defenseman wins, that means either they were really good on offense or there weren’t any deserving forwards on the winning team. The former clearly wasn’t the case. So let’s look at the latter. Yeah, this wasn’t the case either.
Patrik Elias would have been a great pick. In hindsight, this would have given Elias a major individual award win, which might have gotten him into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot. Jason Arnott provided the best memory from the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, the best winner would have been Petr Sykora. He was clutch throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Devils wouldn’t have won it without him.