The Conn Smythe Trophy () 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 Final, 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), but similar to the Babe Ruth Award, and also the Professional Women's Hockey League Playoff MVP award, 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 of the trophy is Jordan Staal, who won it with the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.
History Trophy 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.
Winners 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 Final. 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 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 2026, the Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded to centers 22 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
+Conn Smythe Trophy winnersYearWinnerTeamPositionWin # 1965 Montreal Canadiens C 1 1966 Detroit Red Wings G 1 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs C 1 1968 St. Louis Blues G 1 1969 Montreal Canadiens D 1 1970 Boston Bruins D 1 1971 Montreal Canadiens G 1 1972 Boston Bruins D 2 1973 Montreal Canadiens RW 1 1974 Philadelphia Flyers G 1 1975 Philadelphia Flyers G 2 1976 Philadelphia Flyers RW 1 1977 Montreal Canadiens RW 1 1978 Montreal Canadiens D 1 1979 Montreal Canadiens LW 1 1980 New York Islanders C 1 1981 New York Islanders C 1 1982 New York Islanders RW 1 1983 New York Islanders G 1 1984 Edmonton Oilers C 1 1985 Edmonton Oilers C 1 1986 Montreal Canadiens G 1 1987 Philadelphia Flyers G 1 1988 Edmonton Oilers C 2 1989 Calgary Flames D 1 1990 Edmonton Oilers G 1 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins C 1 1992 Pittsburgh Penguins C 2 1993 Montreal Canadiens G 2 1994 New York Rangers D 1 1995 New Jersey Devils RW 1 1996 Colorado Avalanche C 1 1997 Detroit Red Wings G 1 1998 Detroit Red Wings C 1 1999 Dallas Stars C 1 2000 New Jersey Devils D 1 2001 Colorado Avalanche G 3 2002 Detroit Red Wings D 1 2003 G 1 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning C 1 2005Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout 2006 Carolina Hurricanes G 1 2007 Anaheim Ducks D 1 2008 Detroit Red Wings C 1 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins C 1 2010 Chicago Blackhawks C 1 2011 Boston Bruins G 1 2012 Los Angeles Kings G 1 2013 Chicago Blackhawks RW 1 2014 Los Angeles Kings RW 1 2015 Chicago Blackhawks D 1 2016 Pittsburgh Penguins C 1 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins C 2 2018 Washington Capitals LW 1 2019 St. Louis Blues C 1 2020 Tampa Bay Lightning D 1 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning G 1 2022 Colorado Avalanche D 1 2023 Vegas Golden Knights RW 1 2024 Edmonton Oilers C 1 2025 Florida Panthers C 1 2026 Carolina Hurricanes C 1
See also List of National Hockey League awards List of NHL statistical leaders List of Stanley Cup champions
References
External links Conn Smythe Trophy at NHL.com Conn Smythe Trophy history at HHOF.net