Jordan Staal Leads Conn Smythe Trophy Race With Six Goals
Jordan Staal has pushed himself into the conn smythe trophy conversation with six goals and seven points in five games. Carolina’s 3-2 lead over the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2026 Stanley Cup Finals gives him a chance to finish the job Sunday night and reshape the race.
Staal’s Finals surge
Six goals in five Finals games is the sharpest number in the series. Staal has outscored his own first three rounds, when he had five points in 13 games, and the surge comes from a player who entered the Finals as Carolina’s captain rather than its scoring leader.
That gap matters because the Hurricanes have spread their offense across several players. Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake lead Carolina in playoff scoring with 18 points each, while Logan Stankoven is fourth on the team with 15. Staal’s burst has still become the most visible single push as the series moved toward the clinching stage.
Mitch Marner and Vegas
Mitch Marner remains a threat on the other side of the bracket of possible winners. He has eight different multi-point games, two of them four-point performances, and 29 points in 21 playoff games. If Vegas rallies back, his production keeps him in the discussion.
Mark Stone, Jack Eichel and Carter Hart are also in the mix for Vegas if the Golden Knights can extend the Finals. That is the friction in the award debate: the winner of the series will heavily shape who gets the trophy, and one strong final game can still swing the vote.
Andersen and Bussi
Frederik Andersen’s numbers changed the Carolina conversation before the trophy debate even reached the Finals. Through the first three rounds, he had 12 wins and a.931 save percentage in 13 games, then opened the Finals with a.815 save percentage in 162 minutes before being pulled partway through Game 3.
Brandon Bussi has steadied that spot since then with a.908 save percentage in two-and-a-half games. Rod Brind’Amour, who coached Carolina to its last Cup win in 2006, now has a team that can close this series and force the Conn Smythe discussion to settle around the Final’s biggest moments instead of the full postseason resume.
