Matthew Tkachuk’s Conn Smythe Trophy Candidacy

It seems that Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk can accomplish just about anything. With Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes tied 3-3, Tkachuk scored the game and series winning goal with only 4.9 second left in the third period.

The crowd went wild, Tkachuk was loving every minute of it and the Panthers were on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals with a series sweep of the Hurricanes.

It begs the question: after so many great performances, how likely is it that he earns the Conn Smythe Trophy, the award given to the most valuable player in the postseason?

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Matthew Tkachuk Contends for Conn Smythe

As the Panthers enter the final round, Tkachuk leads the squad in points with 21. In fact, those 21 points are a combination of two other team-leading statistics: his nine goals and 12 assists. Even his +/- is great at +10, just one shy of team leader Carter Verhaeghe’s +11.

All that to say that the American has been a critical component to this Stanley Cup run. It is tempting to believe he is the most important component, even Conn Smythe worthy material. Sergei Bobrovsky’s continued heroics beg to differ, however.

At the time of writing, it’s the Florida goalkeeper who leads the Conn Smythe board at +207. Tkachuk is not far behind at +378, followed by Vegas Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel at +402.

For that matter, given his terrific run, how many more can he tally in the Stanley Cup Finals? Check out the odds below and in our betting page.

With Bobrovsky so sensational since the end of the first round, it’s easy to see why he leads the Conn Smythe race, but if Tkachuk continues to score timely goals, a strong case can be made for him as well. Consider that he scored both overtime winners in Games 1 and 2 against the Hurricanes and the series winner in Game 4 with so little time left it was akin to an overtime marker.