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Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Holtby: Choosing Washington's playoff MVP is no easy task

kyle cantlon
Writer

As the Capitals flirt with the idea of winning their first ever Stanley Cup, the team’s front-runners for the Conn Smythe Trophy have each played a pivotal part in getting Washington to within one win of a title.

But if the Caps do manage to finish this thing off, only one of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov or Braden Holtby can take home the hardware as playoff MVP — and this race is as tight as they come.

The latter has out-dueled counterpart Marc-Andre Fleury in every facet after coming up huge in two straight elimination games against the Lightning in the Eastern Conference final. Kuznetsov, coming off a four-assist night in Game 4, leads the playoffs in scoring and became just the fifth player since 1998 to record at least 30 points in a single playoff run. Ovechkin, meanwhile, ranks first in goals and has been a one-man shooting gallery while anchoring the Caps’ lethal power play.

Here’s the Conn Smythe case for each.

Braden Holtby

Crazy to think that just a few weeks ago, the Capitals’ No. 1 netminder was on the bench watching his teammates take to the ice for their opening round against the Blue Jackets. Since taking over late in Game 2 of that series, Holtby has been spectacular in wining 15 of his 21 starts and posting a .923 save percentage with a couple of clutch, back-to-back shutouts in Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference final.

He’s given up more than three goals just twice in those 21 contests, while boasting a .934 even-strength SV% and a .923 overall. He’s had a sub-.900 SV% in just six contests all postseason, has stopped a second-ranked 5.54 goals saved above average (GSAA), and has been the best in these playoffs at not allowing that weak goal — saving over 99 percent of the low-danger shots fired his way.

And, of course, who could forget “The Save,” which quite possibly saved the series and the season for the Capitals in the dying minutes of Game 2 against the Golden Knights. It could very well have won the Cup for Washington.

Evgeny Kuznetsov

If there was any doubt before, it’s now clear that Kuznetsov has arrived as a top-tier superstar in this league. The Capitals centreman carried a career-best 83-point season right into the playoffs, failing to find the scoresheet just five times in 23 games and recording a postseason-best 31 points over that span.

The bird-walk celly is obviously on-point, and he’s been able to bust it out a lot this postseason, ranking behind only Ovechkin and Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele with a dozen goals. He currently tops all skaters in primary points (22), assists (19) and points-per-game among players with 12 or more appearances (1.35). Kuznetsov leads the Stanley Cup Final in scoring and could very well end up with the highest primary-point output in a single playoff run since the turn of the century.

Like Holtby, Kuznetsov contributed what will go down as one of the biggest moments in D.C. sports history if the Caps go on to win — scoring the overtime series-winner in Game 6 of the second round to finally lift Washington over rival Pittsburgh in a playoff series for the first time since 1994.

Alex Ovechkin

This brings us to Ovi, who himself is having a playoff run for the ages as he tries to bring a Major 4 championship to Washington for the first time in a long, long time. He’s undoubtedly been the heart-and-soul of this Capitals team for the better part of 15 years, and all he’s done in these playoffs is lead all skaters in goals, shots and attempts while playing the full 200-foot game we’ve seen him develop over the past several season. He’s an absolute train along the boards, too.

Aside from doing what he does best — shooting and scoring, a lot — he’s also boasted a stellar 62.5 percent Corsi in all situations, is trailing only Kuznetsov with 20 primary points of his own and sits just behind his centreman with a 27.82 cumulative game score this postseason. And, he’s been an absolute force while anchoring the Capitals’ lethal power play, tallying 10 points including five goals on the man advantage, while opening up the ice for the rest of his team as he garners so much attention when he’s locked and loaded from the left circle.

His defining moment was a huge one, too, scoring the game-winning goal a minute into Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final against the Lightning.

Ovechkin should probably win the Conn Smythe if and when the Caps are able to finish Vegas off, but a strong case can be made that Washington would be nowhere near the position it’s in without the extraordinary playoff performances of Kuznetsov and Holtby, too.

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