Toggle sidebar

Biggest legacy jump?

Whose legacy takes the biggest jump if they win the Conn Smythe this year?

  • Draisaitl

    Votes: 11 10.9%

  • Kucherov

    Votes: 6 5.9%

  • MacKinnon

    Votes: 7 6.9%

  • Matthews

    Votes: 60 59.4%

  • McDavid

    Votes: 17 16.8%
  • Total voters
    101
Matthews and it's not even remotely close tbh. The other guys are proven playoff superstars and the Conn smythe would be a cherry on the top. For Matthews, it's the whole sundae

If he wins, Matthews would be seen as the captain who (likely) led Toronto to a cup while also being a 3x Rocket winner, a league MVP and a Ted Lindsay winner. He would skyrocket all time rankings
 
  • Like
Reactions: Realgud, Aashir, The Gr8 Dane and 1 other person
How about Hellebuyck?

He would basically establish himself as the best goalie since Brodeur and on track for top 10 all-time.

He and Matthews are the guys who would dispel that playoff choker label.

Imagine if McDavid wins again and the Oilers lose haha. Ovechkin scoring 15 goals and winning would be funny too because of how many people’s opinions that would mess with.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheLegend27, Acallabeth and wetcoast
Matthews without question.

The others have either already won it or in the case of the Oilers guys already proven they can dominate in the playoffs. Matthews is the only one where the word "disappointing" could apply (and DOES apply; his playoff play has left a lot to be desired) on the biggest stage.

He wins a Conn Smythe upon a Leafs Cup win and he is unanimously the best player in the history of the biggest English-speaking hockey market in the world. Let's be honest, and this is not just me being a Leafs fan saying this, but no team winning the Stanley Cup would elicit anywhere close to the reaction, redemption and healing that would occur if Toronto ever does. Literally not even close. Nowhere else compares to the combination of Cup drought + market size/cultural and economic impact in our case.
 
Last edited:
Matthews winning a Cup and Smythe would erase all critiques against his game he’s had the last 8 or so years. He’d also be a legend for Smything the way to Canada’s first Cup win in 35 years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Coffee
zar said:
If McDavid wins another Conn Smythe, he’s winning the Cup. If he wins a Cup, he’s gets rid of that last thing that some people say he needs to be considered to be in that Mount Rushmore debate.
Click to expand...
McDavid could win a 2nd Conn Smythe and still lose in the finals. If he has another playoff like last time and he ends up breaking Gretzky's all time single season points record they pretty much have to give it to him again. And that would actually be pretty damn epic if you ask me!

I would actually don't mind if McDavid has to wait a few years to win the cup as he could break Ray Bourgue's record of most all time points scored before winning your first cup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Coffee
leafsfan5 said:
Matthews and it's not even remotely close tbh. The other guys are proven playoff superstars and the Conn smythe would be a cherry on the top. For Matthews, it's the whole sundae

If he wins, Matthews would be seen as the captain who (likely) led Toronto to a cup while also being a 3x Rocket winner, a league MVP and a Ted Lindsay winner. He would skyrocket all time rankings
Click to expand...
Matthews could still win the Conn Smythe without winning the cup. If Matthews gets back to his goal scoring ways he could totally be the first player to score 20 goals or more in a playoff run while losing in the finals. And if that happens they pretty much have to give it to Matthews!
 
Matthews has clearly fallen behind the pack so it would have to be him

IF he won the CS it think he would be right back in the group with the others
 
zar said:
If McDavid wins another Conn Smythe, he’s winning the Cup. If he wins a Cup, he’s gets rid of that last thing that some people say he needs to be considered to be in that Mount Rushmore debate.
Click to expand...
McDavid at absolute worst is a top 10 player of all time, if he wins a cup maybe that catapults him into top 5ish for the most ardent haters.

Matthews on the other hand could fall extremely low if he doesn't put together a Conn/Cup run, maybe not top 50 and arguably the most disappointing player in Hockey history.

A huge run secures his legacy and honestly I think time is closing in on him much faster than McDavid.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheLegend27
Aside from the obvious Matthews, it would be Draisaitl. Winning the Smythe over McDavid after beating him in the regular season could move him from the 'always 2nd' to a 1B status.
wetcoast said:
No I've watched him play and the stats back it up.
Second in offensive zone starts and 11th on the Capitals in terms of +/- and that's even with him often slipping off the cie as the puck goes back the other way.
Click to expand...
To think that the player who is among the very best in the league in ESGD, goals and points per 60 can't play on Conn Smythe level because of 'zone starts' is good comedy. Zone starts only say that Carberry knows how to utilize his strongest weapon.

Whatever. Ovechkin will at least be able to show what he's got in playoff this year, unlike Crosby ahahahaha
 
1. Matthews by far. Simply put - he's lacking the most out of this group for playoffs, so this helps him the most. Easy logic.

2. McDavid. Without a cup, he's easily the greatest player of all-time not to win one. huge negative impact. Without a conn smythe - he's also the greatest player of all-time without one. Also big negative impact. So - it's a necessary checkbox

All 3 of the others are in similar'ish positions. Great playoff performers - great overall careers/primes - a smythe helps any of them, but isn't absolutely necessary.

Kucherov may be last - simply because he has the best playoff resume of the 5, and arguably already lost ~2 smythes he deserved.
 
TheLegend27 said:
The easy answer is McDavid, but a sneaky one that’s not an option could be Ovechkin. With a second cup and Smythe, he may surpass Crosby or at-least have an argument over him for the all time rankings.
Click to expand...
Sid plays the more important position, has a sterling international record and has 3 cups which ovie won’t get to. Ovie won’t pass sid on an all time ranking list in most peoples eyes.
 
wetcoast said:
No I purposely worded it that way because Ovechkin isn't driving play, isn't a positive factor 5 on 5 and yes he is scoring goals but he's not going to play at a Conn Smythe rate if the Capitals actually win the SC.

This isn't even close to being a hot take, it's reality.
Click to expand...
I don't know. Justin Williams won the Smythe (undeservedly so, but he did win) with level of play I could see Ovechkin delivering.

His Smythe is absolutely not likely, but I could see him winning. Wingers don't impact the game outside of scoring too much. If your #1C/D/G plays on same level, that team is not winning the Cup. But winger is plausible. And if the Caps win with Ovechkin having strong goal totals, I'd easily see him as the nostalgic winner.
 
Plural said:
I don't know. Justin Williams won the Smythe (undeservedly so, but he did win) with level of play I could see Ovechkin delivering.

His Smythe is absolutely not likely, but I could see him winning. Wingers don't impact the game outside of scoring too much. If your #1C/D/G plays on same level, that team is not winning the Cup. But winger is plausible. And if the Caps win with Ovechkin having strong goal totals, I'd easily see him as the nostalgic winner.
Click to expand...
Like I have stated upthread the combination of eye test , Ovi's EN goals and points production (which won't be available in the playoffs) and recent playoff performance and age all indicate that it's basically impossible for Ovi to win a Conn Smythe.

Heck given his performance last year some avid Capital fans should know better.
 
wetcoast said:
Like I have stated upthread the combination of eye test , Ovi's EN goals and points production (which won't be available in the playoffs) and recent playoff performance and age all indicate that it's basically impossible for Ovi to win a Conn Smythe.

Heck given his performance last year some avid Capital fans should know better.
Click to expand...

It's more about semantics. He's not winning the Smythe unless others in Caps team do the heavy lifting collectively. But there are players on last legs that are vastly worse than he is. We are not going to agree on this, so maybe we just settle in that unless something very drastic happens, Ovechkin will not win. I don't think it's quite as impossible as you say. But the likelyhood is somewhere the market puts it. +4000 and in his team he's the co-favorite.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sanscosm
wetcoast said:
There is basically zero chance that Ovechkin is winning a Conn smythe this year, have you watched him play?

I took Drai for the poll and every guys listed in the order of the OP.

Let's go backwards in the list.

McDavid is tracking top 5 player of all time, he doesn't need a Conn smythe and will probably still be in that area as he is trending that way.

Same thing for Matthews although I guess getting somewhere in the playoffs would certainly help his all time resume and legacy but his legacy is going to rest on his health the rest of the way IMO.

Mack and Kuch both have their legacies pretty much in place with their regular season and playoff resumes so far and hove they are trending as the undeniable top forwards on their teams.

Sure a Conn Smythe will add to any players legacy but still.

Drai is in the same place, except he plays with McDavid and the OP continually ignores Drai being injured in the playoffs but I would pick him for this poll even if that wasn't the case but it sure helps.
Click to expand...

If Ovechkin goes on one of his streaks and scores 16 goals in the playoffs he winning the award
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Ad

Top Bottom