Khudobin, Hedman top candidates for Conn Smythe Trophy at start of Final

W ho has been the most valuable player during the Stanley Cup Playoffs heading into the Stanley Cup Final between the Dallas Stars and the Tampa Bay Lightning? NHL.com asked 11 of its writers who have covered the postseason since it began Aug. 1 to select the three leading candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the player voted to be most valuable in the tournament by a panel of members from the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Anton Khudobin has led the Stars to the Stanley Cup Final, and as a result the goalie has a slim lead for the Conn Smythe Trophy, according to a panel of NHL.com writers.
The Dallas goalie received 16 voting points (on a 3-2-1 voting basis) and four first-place votes from the panel. He is one point ahead of Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (four first-place votes). Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen, first in the voting after the second round, was third with 13 points and two first-place votes.
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, the hub city for the Final, is Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Khudobin is 12-6-0 with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage in 19 postseason games (18 starts). In the Stars' five-game win against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final, Khudobin allowed eight goals on 161 shots (.950 save percentage).
"He's a competitor," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "He comes to play every night."
If Khudobin is awarded the Conn Smythe, he will be the first goalie to win it since Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2012. The 34-year-old would be the third-oldest goalie to win it, behind 37-year-old Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins in 2011 and 35-year-old Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche in 2001.

The Lightning defeated the New York Islanders in six games in the Eastern Conference Final, winning Game 6 2-1 in overtime on Thursday.
Hedman is averaging 26:31 of ice time in 19 games, the most of any skater to make it to at least the conference finals. He leads NHL defensemen with nine goals, and his 15 points are tied for fifth among defensemen with Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche. Hedman scored six points (four goals, two assists) in the six games against the Islanders.
Duncan Keith of the 2015 Chicago Blackhawks is the only defenseman to win the Conn Smythe since Scott Niedermayer won it with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.
Heiskanen leads NHL defensemen in the playoffs with 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) in 21 games, but had one point, an assist, in the series win against the Golden Knights.
The 21-year-old has set the Stars record for points by a defenseman in a single postseason (Craig Hartsburg, 15, 1981).
Heiskanen also is the eighth defensemen to score at least 22 points in his first 21 or fewer playoff games in one postseason, joining Paul Coffey of the Edmonton Oilers (37 points in 18 games, 1985; 22 points in 19 games, 1984), Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers (32 points in 21 games, 1994); Al MacInnis of the Calgary Flames (29 points in 21 games, 1989); Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders (25 points in 18 games, 1981); Ray Bourque of the Boston Bruins (25 points in 19 games, 1991; 23 points in 17 games, 1983); Bobby Orr of the Bruins (24 points in 15 games 1972); and Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks (22 points in 21 games, 2016).
If Heiskanen were to win the award, he would become the youngest defenseman to do so. Orr was 22 when he won it in 1970.

Lightning forward Brayden Point is fourth in the voting with nine points. He has 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists), tied for second in postseason scoring with Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (nine goals, 16 assists).
Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov is the top scorer in the postseason with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists). He received one first-place vote and six voting points.
Voting totals (points awarded on a 3-2-1 basis): Anton Khudobin, Stars, 16 points (four first-place votes); Victor Hedman, Lightning, 15 points (four first-place votes); Miro Heiskanen, Stars, 13 points (two first-place votes); Brayden Point, Lightning, 9 points; Nikita Kucherov, Lightning, 6 points (one first-place votes), Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning, 4 points; Jamie Benn, Stars, 3 points.