Plenty of worthy candidates for Conn Smythe Trophy

CHICAGO — With the Tampa Bay Lightning two wins from winning the Stanley Cup, now seems about as good a time as any to speculate on who might win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

It’s a wide-open battle. Ask five people for their picks and you’re likely to come away with five different names. Everyone from Tyler Johnson and Patrick Kane to Duncan Keith and Victor Hedman has put forth MVP type playoff performances.

Though anything can change, here are the top five candidates:

Tyler Johnson, Tampa Bay

The leading scorer in the playoffs (13 goals, 23 points), has easily been TampaBay’s most consistent forward. Johnson had seven points in the first round, five points in these cond-round and nine points in the third round. In the last 10 games, he has gone only three games without a point. With Steven Stamkos still searching for his first point in the final, Johnson is again leading the offence with a goal and an assist against the Blackhawks.

Duncan Keith, Chicago

What more is there to say about Keith? He plays more than half the game, is tied for third in scoring with 20 points and has playoff-leading plus-14 rating. As the post-season continues and more Blackhawks go down to injury — the team is missing Michal Rozsival and was without Johnny Oduya for parts of Game 3 Monday — Keith, who played nearly 50 minutes in a triple-OT win in the Western Conference final, is being leaned on even more.

Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper called this Hedman’s comingout party. But to anyone who has been watching Tampa Bay play for the past two years, what the 6-foot6 defenceman has been doing is not surprising. It is just that he’s doing it on the big stage. Hedman trails only Keith in points among defencemen, is second with a plus-12 rating and is a major reason Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are still searching for their first goal of the final.

Patrick Kane, Chicago

While he has been quiet in the final — no goals and no points — Chicago would not be here without Kane leading the offence. Tied for second with 10 goals and tied for third with 20 points, Kane had seven points in a six-game series against the Predators, five goals in a four-game sweep against the Wild and seven points in a seven-game series against the Ducks. If the Blackhawks are going to defeat the Lightning, they will need him to pick up the scoring.

Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay

While the Lightning goalie has been up and down during the playoffs, he seems to bring his best game when the team needs it the most. He already has two Game 7 shutouts and stopped 36 of 38 shots in Game 3 despite clearly being hurt after leaving the previous game with a mysterious injury. If the Lightning manage to win two more games, it would be difficult not to reward their goaltender for gutting out some difficult wins.