Conn Smythe Trophy

This article is about the trophy. For the person, see Conn Smythe.

Conn Smythe Trophy
Established	1964–65 NHL season
Current holder(s)	Connor McDavid
Awarded to the	"most valuable player for his team" in the National Hockey League playoffs

The Conn Smythe Trophy (French: Trophée Conn-Smythe) is awarded annually to the most valuable player (MVP) of his team during the National Hockey League's (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs. It is named after Conn Smythe, the longtime owner, general manager, and head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded 54 times to 47 players since the 1964–65 NHL season. Each year, at the conclusion of the final game of the Stanley Cup Finals, members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association vote to elect the player deserving of the trophy. The trophy is handed out by the NHL Commissioner before the presentation of the Stanley Cup and only the winner is announced, in contrast to most of the other NHL awards which name three finalists and are presented at a ceremony. Vote tallies for the Conn Smythe Trophy were released starting in 2017.

Unlike the playoff MVP awards presented in the other major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada (the Super Bowl MVP, the NBA Finals MVP, the MLS Cup MVP and the World Series MVP), the Conn Smythe is based on a player's performance during the entire NHL postseason instead of just the championship game or series.

The most recent winner is Connor McDavid. He is only the sixth player in NHL history to be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy while being on the losing team. The last player to do it before him was Jean-Sebastien Giguere in 2003.

History

The Conn Smythe Trophy was introduced in 1964 by Maple Leaf Gardens Limited to honour Conn Smythe, the former owner, general manager and coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder. The centrepiece of the trophy is a stylized silver replica of Maple Leaf Gardens, the arena built under Smythe's ownership of the Maple Leafs, and their home from 1931 to 1999. Backing the arena replica is a large silver botanically accurate maple leaf. The arena replica and leaf are set atop a square wooden foundation, the front of which bears a dedication plaque. Additional tiers below the foundation, sloping outward, contain maple leaf-shaped plates bearing the inscriptions of the winners' names.

The base of the Conn Smythe Trophy has been expanded twice over the years to accommodate more winners. Although the 16 nameplates on the original base tier were filled up after 1980, a new tier was not added until the 1983–84 season. Following the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs, the 20 nameplates on the new tier were filled, so the first nine winners' nameplates were moved up to the remaining three sides of the foundation tier. The remaining nameplates were shifted accordingly to keep the winners in chronological order. Due to the cancellation of the 2004–05 season, the trophy was not filled again until 2010, after which a new tier was added, making room for 24 more names.

The first winner of the trophy was centre Jean Beliveau of the Montreal Canadiens in 1965. The first player and only defenseman to win it twice was Bobby Orr, who scored the Cup-clinching goals for the Boston Bruins in 1970 and 1972. Goaltender Bernie Parent (for the Philadelphia Flyers) and centres Wayne Gretzky (for the Edmonton Oilers), Mario Lemieux, and Sidney Crosby (for the Pittsburgh Penguins) have also won it twice each, with Parent, Lemieux, and Crosby each winning theirs back to back (1974/1975, 1991/1992, and 2016/2017 respectively). Goaltender Patrick Roy is the only three-time Smythe winner and the only player to win the trophy as a member of two different teams (with the Canadiens in 1986 and 1993, and with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001); his wins also fall into three different decades. Ken Dryden, the 1971 Smythe winner, is the only NHL player to win this trophy before winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year (in 1972): Montreal called him up to play only six regular season games. Dave Keon is the only Maple Leafs player to win the trophy donated by his club's parent company, while his eight playoff points in 1967 is the fewest ever by a non-goalie Conn Smythe winner as he was a defensive forward.

Though the trophy rewards a player who performed particularly well over the entirety of the playoffs, it has never been given to a player whose team did not at least reach the Stanley Cup Finals. The trophy has been awarded to members of the team that lost the Finals six times, most recently Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers in 2024. The only two skaters to win the award while his team lost the final round are Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Philadelphia's Reggie Leach, the latter of which won it in 1976, as he had set a league record for most goals in the playoffs (19), which included a five-goal game in the semifinals and four goals in the Finals, even though the Canadiens swept his Flyers. McDavid set the all-time playoff record for assists in 2024 and led the playoffs in scoring by ten points, despite the Florida Panthers defeating his Oilers in seven games.

Ten players born outside of Canada have won the Conn Smythe Trophy. The non-Canadian winners are Americans Brian Leetch, who won it in 1994, Tim Thomas in 2011, Jonathan Quick in 2012, and Patrick Kane in 2013; Russians Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy who won it in 2009, 2018 and 2021, respectively; and Swedes Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg and Victor Hedman, who won it in 2002, 2008 and 2020, respectively.

Three players have won the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Hart Memorial Trophy for Most Valuable Player during the regular season in the same year: Orr in 1970 and 1972, Guy Lafleur in 1977, and Wayne Gretzky in 1985. These three players also won the Art Ross Trophy, having scored more points than any other player during the regular season (Orr only in 1970), while Orr also won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as top defenceman to give him a record four individual original NHL awards in 1970.

As of 2024, the Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded to centers 20 times, to goaltenders 17 times, to defencemen 12 times, and to right wingers eight times, while the only left wingers to have won the award are Bob Gainey of Montreal in 1979 and Alexander Ovechkin of Washington in 2018. Players with the Montreal Canadiens have received the most Conn Smythe Trophies with nine. Players with the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Edmonton Oilers have each received five, and the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders have each received four.

Winners

Positions key

C	Centre
LW	Left wing
D	Defence
RW	Right wing
G	Goaltender

     Player is active in the NHL (‡)

     Player is inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame

     Player is not yet eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame

     Player was on the losing team in the Stanley Cup Finals (§)

     Player did not accept the award on ice

     Player was picked first overall in the NHL Entry Draft

     Player was picked first overall in the NHL Entry Draft and is still active in the NHL

     Player was picked first overall in the NHL Entry Draft and is inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame

Conn Smythe Trophy winners

Year	Winner	Team	Stanley Cup Result	Position	Win #
1965	Beliveau, JeanJean Beliveau	Montreal Canadiens	W	C	1
1966	Crozier, RogerRoger Crozier	Detroit Red Wings§	L	G	1
1967	Keon, DaveDave Keon	Toronto Maple Leafs	W	C	1
1968	Hall, GlennGlenn Hall	St. Louis Blues§	L	G	1
1969	Savard, SergeSerge Savard	Montreal Canadiens	W	D	1
1970	Orr, BobbyBobby Orr	Boston Bruins	W	D	1
1971	Dryden, KenKen Dryden	Montreal Canadiens	W	G	1
1972	Orr, BobbyBobby Orr	Boston Bruins	W	D	2
1973	Cournoyer, YvanYvan Cournoyer	Montreal Canadiens	W	RW	1
1974	Parent, BernieBernie Parent	Philadelphia Flyers	W	G	1
1975	Parent, BernieBernie Parent	Philadelphia Flyers	W	G	2
1976	Leach, ReggieReggie Leach	Philadelphia Flyers§	L	RW	1
1977	Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur	Montreal Canadiens	W	RW	1
1978	Robinson, LarryLarry Robinson	Montreal Canadiens	W	D	1
1979	Gainey, BobBob Gainey	Montreal Canadiens	W	LW	1
1980	Trottier, BryanBryan Trottier	New York Islanders	W	C	1
1981	Goring, ButchButch Goring	New York Islanders	W	C	1
1982	Bossy, MikeMike Bossy	New York Islanders	W	RW	1
1983	Smith, BillyBilly Smith	New York Islanders	W	G	1
1984	Messier, MarkMark Messier	Edmonton Oilers	W	C	1
1985	Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	W	C	1
1986	Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	Montreal Canadiens	W	G	1
1987	Hextall, RonRon Hextall	Philadelphia Flyers§	L	G	1
1988	Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	W	C	2
1989	MacInnis, AlAl MacInnis	Calgary Flames	W	D	1
1990	Ranford, BillBill Ranford	Edmonton Oilers	W	G	1
1991	Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	W	C	1
1992	Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	W	C	2
1993	Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	Montreal Canadiens	W	G	2
1994	Leetch, BrianBrian Leetch	New York Rangers	W	D	1
1995	Lemieux, ClaudeClaude Lemieux	New Jersey Devils	W	RW	1
1996	Sakic, JoeJoe Sakic	Colorado Avalanche	W	C	1
1997	Vernon, MikeMike Vernon	Detroit Red Wings	W	G	1
1998	Yzerman, SteveSteve Yzerman	Detroit Red Wings	W	C	1
1999	Nieuwendyk, JoeJoe Nieuwendyk	Dallas Stars	W	C	1
2000	Stevens, ScottScott Stevens	New Jersey Devils	W	D	1
2001	Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	Colorado Avalanche	W	G	3
2002	Lidstrom, NicklasNicklas Lidstrom	Detroit Red Wings	W	D	1
2003	Giguere, Jean-SebastienJean-Sebastien Giguere	Anaheim, Mighty Ducks ofMighty Ducks of Anaheim §	L	G	1
2004	Richards, BradBrad Richards	Tampa Bay Lightning	W	C	1
2005	Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout
2006	Ward, CamCam Ward	Carolina Hurricanes	W	G	1
2007	Niedermayer, ScottScott Niedermayer	Anaheim Ducks	W	D	1
2008	Zetterberg, HenrikHenrik Zetterberg	Detroit Red Wings	W	C	1
2009	Malkin, EvgeniEvgeni Malkin ‡	Pittsburgh Penguins	W	C	1
2010	Toews, JonathanJonathan Toews	Chicago Blackhawks	W	C	1
2011	Thomas, TimTim Thomas	Boston Bruins	W	G	1
2012	Quick, JonathanJonathan Quick ‡	Los Angeles Kings	W	G	1
2013	Kane, PatrickPatrick Kane ‡	Chicago Blackhawks	W	RW	1
2014	Williams, JustinJustin Williams	Los Angeles Kings	W	RW	1
2015	Keith, DuncanDuncan Keith	Chicago Blackhawks	W	D	1
2016	Crosby, SidneySidney Crosby ‡	Pittsburgh Penguins	W	C	1
2017	Crosby, SidneySidney Crosby ‡	Pittsburgh Penguins	W	C	2
2018	Ovechkin, AlexanderAlexander Ovechkin ‡	Washington Capitals	W	LW	1
2019	O'Reilly, RyanRyan O'Reilly ‡	St. Louis Blues	W	C	1
2020	Hedman, VictorVictor Hedman ‡	Tampa Bay Lightning	W	D	1
2021	Vasilevskiy, AndreiAndrei Vasilevskiy ‡	Tampa Bay Lightning	W	G	1
2022	Makar, CaleCale Makar ‡	Colorado Avalanche	W	D	1
2023	Marchessault, JonathanJonathan Marchessault ‡	Vegas Golden Knights	W	RW	1
2024	McDavid, ConnorConnor McDavid ‡	Edmonton Oilers§	L	C	1

Jean Beliveau, first recipient of the award, in 1965

Patrick Roy, the only three-time winner and, as of 2024, the only player in NHL history to win the award with more than one team

Bernie Parent, two-time winner and the first player to win the award in consecutive years

Mario Lemieux, two-time winner and the second player to win the award in consecutive years

Sidney Crosby with the trophy, two-time winner and third player to win the award in consecutive years

Connor McDavid, the 2024 winner, and one of six to win the award despite losing the Finals.

See also

• List of National Hockey League awards
• List of NHL statistical leaders
• List of Stanley Cup champions

References

General

• Conn Smythe Trophy at NHL.com
• Conn Smythe Trophy history at HHOF.net

Specific