By: Chris Nosek

The first round is too soon to start saying who’s making a case for the Conn Smyth. It’s not too soon, however, to look at which players have helped their teams advance to the second round. So, let’s see who is establishing themselves as players to watch as their teams get further during this postseason.

Buffalo Sabres vs Boston Bruins

Look, there were many great players on both teams in this series. However, it’s clear that the presence of Alex Lyon in this series changed the tone. Lyon turned aside 106 of the 111 shots he saw across his three games for a .950 save percentage. He provided a stable presence in their crease and gave the team the confidence they needed to attack.

Player of the Series: Alex Lyon

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens

Despite finishing the regular season just behind the Lightning, the Canadiens came into this series against them as underdogs. Only Jesper Wallstedt made more saves in the first round, and he only allowed 3 goals on 22 high-danger chances. There are other candidates for sure, but Dobes’ performance in the crease – out dualing Andrei Vasilevskiy, with all the high-pressure situations over the series – puts him ahead of anyone else you could think of a case for.

Player of the Series: Jakub Dobes

Carolina Hurricanes vs Ottawa Senators

After a regular season that had many questioning if he could still play his position, Frederik Andersen made a major statement with his first-round performance. Saving 105 of the 110 shots he faced, he posted a shutout and a 4.01 goals saved above expected. He faced 19 high-danger shots and saved 18 of them as he backed the Hurricanes to the only sweep in the first round for the Eastern Conference. Logan Stankoven and Linus Ullmark were incredible and played critical roles in this series as well, but Andersen was certainly ahead of both of them.

Player of the Series: Frederik Andersen

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Philadelphia Flyers

I really wanted to go with one player per series, but in this case, I just couldn’t. While Vladar and the Flyers won the series, I can’t hold a rookie head coach’s decision against Silovs. Dan Muse’s decision to start Stuart Skinner for the first three games was simply a rookie Head Coach going with his veteran with playoff experience. Silovs stayed ready and allowed only 5 goals on 88 shots over his three games, including saving 6.55 goals above expected. However, Vladar backed the Flyers with his own .937 save percentage. Some would point to Vladar’s 12.45 goals saved above expected as the deciding factor, but it’s clear Silovs could have reached those numbers if he had been called upon for the duration of the series. However, it should also be noted that each of Silov’s starts occurred in elimination games under additional pressure, and he has a .929 save percentage on high-danger chances. One thing is clear – Arturs Silovs just secured the starting job for the Penguins for next season.

Player of the Series: Dan Vladar & Arturs Silovs

Colorado Avalanche vs Los Angeles Kings

Colorado had scoring from 14 players, with Lehonen, MacKinnon, and Landeskog all posting two goals and two assists. However, the .950 save percentage posted by Wedgewood limited the Kings to only 5 goals across the four games. This one is pretty straightforward.

Player of the Series: Scott Wedgewood

Dallas Stars vs Minnesota Wild

This series isn’t short of qualified candidates for this distinction, but Wallstedt is currently leading the playoffs with a 7.45 goals saved above expected to go with his .924 save percentage. His performance was consistent from game to game, and he regularly made the big saves when needed. Jason Robertson and Matt Duchene would have been extremely deserving had they been able to get through the round. While the Wild also saw great cases made by Matt Boldy, Quinn Hughes, and Brock Faber.

Player of the Series: Jesper Wallstedt

Vegas Golden Knights vs Utah Mammoth

His game-6 hat-trick to keep the season alive for Vegas really made a case for Pavel Dorofeyev. However, Eichel was more consistent overall and led the Golden Knights in overall scoring. He led all forwards in time on ice, yet only took two penalties across all six games of the series. Mitch Marner also put in a great effort and would be a solid candidate, but Eichel averaged nearly 3 more minutes of ice time per game. In my opinion, this gives Eichel a slight edge. Both will be fun to watch as they prepare to face off against the Ducks.

Player of the Series: Jack Eichel

Edmonton Oilers vs Anaheim Ducks

This one is pretty easy. Jackson LaCombe led the Ducks in ice time, helped the defense to shut down Connor McDavid, and led the Ducks in scoring. He was on the ice for an average of 27 minutes per game, which was just over a minute and a half more than Jacob Trouba, who was second on the team. While Leon Draisaitl was able to put up 10 points over 6 games, Connor McDavid was held to 6 points, zero points in the first two games, and a -8 rating – the worst on the Oilers. Regardless of any injury to McDavid, LaCombe was still the best player in this series.

Player of the Series: Jackson LaCombe