With the second round of the playoffs nearly underway, it is never too early to start looking at who could get this year's Conn Smythe Trophy for Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
This award is almost always given to player from the Stanley Cup-winning team, but it has been won by a player on a different team before. The last time this happened was in 2003, as Mighty Ducks of Anaheim goalie Jean Sebastian Giguere won the award despite losing in the Stanley Cup Final to the New Jersey Devils.
This year, several players have already made their mark in the first round and can be considered early favorites to win the prestigious award should their team lift Lord Stanley's Cup. Here are a few of them.
Evgeni Malkin - Pittsburgh Penguins
If the Penguins want to win the Stanley Cup in 2013, they will need a performance from Evgeni Malkin like the one that they got from him in 2009. He was the runaway favorite for the Conn Smythe in that playoff year and was basically unstoppable throughout the entire playoffs while fellow superstar Sidney Crosby had a little trouble in the Stanley Cup Final.
As of Monday afternoon, Malkin is tied with Boston Bruin David Krejci for the league lead in playoffs points with two goals and nine assists in just six games against the New York Islanders.
Corey Crawford - Chicago Blackhawks
Crawford was arguably the best goaltender of the first round, leading his Blackhawks to a five-game series victory over the Minnesota Wild. He posted a 1.32 Goals Against Average and recorded a shutout in Game Four. Yes, he did play against an offensively-challenged Minnesota Wild team, but he is the keystone of the Chicago Blackhawks' roster if they want to achieve playoff success and meet expectations.
He struggled in the playoffs last year against the Phoenix Coyotes, and the Blackhawks were ousted in the first round. If Crawford can keep playing like he has all season while avoiding returns to his 2012 self, the Blackhawks will continue to be the favorite to win the Stanley Cup.
Joe Pavelski - San Jose Sharks
Basically, anyone from the San Jose Sharks can go in this slot after a truly remarkable first round series against the Vancouver Canucks. Pavelski leads the team in playoff points with four goals and four assists totaled in the four-game sweep of the Canucks. If you do the math, "Little Joe" averaged two points per game over the course of those four games.
Judging by their fantastic first round performance, this could be one of the best San Jose Sharks teams that we've ever seen, and if this is the year they finally get the monkey off their back, Pavelski would have to be a top favorite for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Henrik Zetterberg - Detroit Red Wings
No other captain emerged as a leader in the first round like Henrik Zetterberg did. After a fairly quiet first half of the series, Zetterberg came up big when the team needed him by scoring three goals and adding four assists in Games Five, Six, and Seven.
His performance on home ice in Game Six set him apart as a true leader, getting the team to shake off a blown two-goal lead late in the third period and tallying the overtime winner to send the series to a seventh game. He then rallied his troops in the do-or-die Game Seven in Anaheim and scored a goal and an assist in a win that sent Detroit to Chicago.
In order for Zetterberg to be considered for this award, he will have to lead his Red Wings past an immensely talented Chicago Blackhawks club, but the task isn't completely unreasonable. If something happens and the Wings shock the world, they will have the confidence that they need in order to know that they can beat anyone.