Rank the Conn Smythe winners since 2005

[JaegerDice]

I agree with everything other than he “out played his teammates by a wider margin.” Kane was 1 point behind Toews and was much better at ES and during their cup run. I’m sure Toews had it locked by the time he got done man handling Vancouver, but had Kane was right there with Toews a majority of the playoffs and ended it on a much higher note than Toews. It would be much more controversial if Kane had tied, or even passed Toews in points after the finals was done with. If it wasn’t for Kane, Toews wouldn’t have a Smythe, Crosby didn’t have anyone win it for him.

In the end, I think Crosby’s Finals showing in 2017 is the difference maker between the two. Not to mention the fact that another player(Briere) had a much better finals showing AND playoffs than Toews did.....Malkin had his shot to seal the deal, but Crosby took the wheel, there was no debate, no controversy....it was Crosby. I give him more credit for finishing the job and not being out played by anyone, like how Toews was.

The 'out-played his teammates by a wider margin' statement was in regards to dominating and controlling play (reflected in the Rel scores listed in the post), not raw production.

You're correct that Kane was only one point behind Toews. Though likewise, Malkin was one point ahead of Crosby in 2017.

It kinda seems like we're on opposite sides of the long-standing Conn Smythe debate over how much weight the Finals in particular should carry for the award. Some feel the Finals should have far and away the most weight, others feel the full playoff run should be considered as a complete package. I've always been in the latter group, and in the case of Toews, I felt that the full run, even with the weak production in the Finals, was the best performance in the playoffs that year, and one of the better of the cap era (though I put him 6th on the list out of 13, so even by my standards it was essentially middle-of-the-pack).

At the end of the day, it's a subjective ranking of a subjective award. Nobody's criteria is going to be exactly the same.

 

[heysmilinstrange]

It’s nice to see a consensus over the 2016 Conn Smythe. It’s a real asterisk now.

Among people who post in the History of Hockey boards, sort of, but certainly not in reality, not in any meaningful way.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Kessel was my 1 in 2016, Crosby was my 2. Doesn't give me a ton of heartburn, though I do think if Kessel scores on one of the 80 A+ chances he had in the Final, he probably wins the thing. But just couldn't quite cash as well. As someone who has watched every single minute of every single playoff game for the last, geez, a while...I'm pretty flummoxed by some of the choices that get made...I'm not sure it's gone to the best player in the playoffs even half the time since the lockout...

 

[Ishdul]

JaegerDice: you clearly don't remember the circumstances of the 2008 Wings win. After four playoff collapses in a row (03, 04, 06, and 07), all of them -- after dominant seasons, nobody in Detroit believed "this would be the time." After the Wings with Hasek in net have blown a two game lead in the first round to the lowly Predators, the sentiment was "here we go again." When the Wings went to Osgood, it did little to instill confidence in the fans, because we all remembered how average-to-bad he could be. Somehow he completely turned the series around, and the Wings never looked back, but the only series when the outcome was never in doubt was Franzen vs. Colorado. At all other times we fully expected Wings to collapse again. Till the last second (the Hossa miss), that series was a question mark.

Maybe nobody in Detroit believed but they were betting favourites for the whole season and the clear best team from start to finish. I also think characterizing 2007 as a playoff 'collapse' is overtly harsh, it's just a playoff loss against extraordinarily talented opposition. If you want to go into those kind of circumstances than I think the 2007 run was more unexpected. I remember it being pretty common to think that the Sharks would beat them in Round 2 and there being specific complaints about Datsyuk's playoff performance in the wake of a big contract extension, which were followed by them pretty soundly beating the Sharks and Datsyuk having a pretty great playoff. I hope no one actually expected them to waltz through Anaheim with Pronger missing exactly 1 game in the series.

It’s nice to see a consensus over the 2016 Conn Smythe. It’s a real asterisk now.

In what sense? I think if Kessel had won he would be at the bottom of everyone's list as well.

 

[GreatGonzo]

The 'out-played his teammates by a wider margin' statement was in regards to dominating and controlling play (reflected in the Rel scores listed in the post), not raw production.

You're correct that Kane was only one point behind Toews. Though likewise, Malkin was one point ahead of Crosby in 2017.

It kinda seems like we're on opposite sides of the long-standing Conn Smythe debate over how much weight the Finals in particular should carry for the award. Some feel the Finals should have far and away the most weight, others feel the full playoff run should be considered as a complete package. I've always been in the latter group, and in the case of Toews, I felt that the full run, even with the weak production in the Finals, was the best performance in the playoffs that year, and one of the better of the cap era (though I put him 6th on the list out of 13, so even by my standards it was essentially middle-of-the-pack).

At the end of the day, it's a subjective ranking of a subjective award. Nobody's criteria is going to be exactly the same.

But Crosby took over and earned his Smythe while Toews folded. And although Crosby finished 1 point behind Malkin, his Finals play is what earned him the Smythe.

Their stats, deployment, and overall impact are very similar, the biggest difference is what they did in the finals....so why wouldn’t the finals be the deciding factor? At least that’s how I see it.