In defeat, the Oilers’ Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Sunrise, Florida — Connor McDavid wins the trophy in Game 7 against the Florida Panthers. Just not the one he wanted to win.

The Edmonton Oilers were defeated 2–1 by the Florida Panthers, ending their miraculous return to the Stanley Cup Finals, being forced to a Game 7 after trailing 3–0 in the series – the rarest feat in NHL history. Only the third team. After leading that comeback and breaking records in the postseason, McDavid was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the 2024 postseason.

McDavid is the sixth player in NHL history to win the Conn Smyth on a losing team in the Stanley Cup Finals. He is only the second skater, after Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers, to be named MVP in 1976. The other winners were all goaltenders who lost in the finals: Anaheim’s Jean-Sébastien Giguere in 2003, Philadelphia’s Ron Hextall in 1987, Glenn Hall of St. Louis in 1968 and Detroit’s Roger Crozier in 1966.

After NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman declared McDavid the Conn Smythe winner, the trophy was placed atop a podium on the ice. It remained there as Panthers fans criticized the selection. McDavid left for the Edmonton dressing room and did not reemerge to accept the award.

After the game, as the Panthers’ ongoing Cup celebration could be heard in the distance, a disappointed McDavid briefly acknowledged the accomplishment.

“Yeah, obviously, I think it’s an honor. With the names on that trophy. But…yeah,” he said.

McDavid earned the Conn Smythe Award due to one of the most impressive runs by an individual player in NHL playoff history.

His 42 points are the fourth-most in a single postseason in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky (47 in 1985 and 43 in 1988) and Mario Lemieux (44 in 1991), who won the Conn Smythe in those seasons. His 11 points in the Stanley Cup Finals were two points shy of tying Wayne Gretzky’s Stanley Cup Finals record of 13 points in 1988. He posted consecutive four-point games in the Finals, the first player in NHL history. Do this to unite the Oilers.

But the greatest accomplishment of his postseason run was breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record for assists in a postseason (31 in 1988) with 34 assists in 24 games.

After Game 7, his teammate and friend Leon Draisaitl said, “I think he’s the greatest player ever.” Franchises all around, pretty much. Love sharing the ice with him. He is truly a special person.”

Draisaitl was asked about McDavid winning the MVP award in a losing effort.

“I don’t think he cares,” Draisaitl said. “I mean, it shows what an amazing hockey player he is. There’s no player in the world who wants to win the Stanley Cup more than him. He does everything right every day, just to win it one day. It’s It’s really hard to be sad for him and disappointed in the end.”

McDavid’s MVP performance extended to the regular season, where he led the Oilers back to making the playoffs after a poor first 12 games (2–9–1).

McDavid said, “Proud of the way we battled all year. Behind the eight ball almost immediately. We fought an uphill climb for months and months and months.” “(It) just… sucks.”

McDavid went from 10 points in his first 11 games to 122 points in his next 65 games.

“You think about the year Connor had with 100 assists, leading our team, his performance in this playoffs, especially this last round, when we were down three games to zero and then he scored eight points in two. Came out with games,” said Oilers coach Chris Knoblauch, who also coached McDavid in junior hockey with the Erie Otters.

“Yeah, he’s our leader. He’s our best player. Obviously everybody wanted to win it for the team and we’d obviously like to do it for him (our team captain),” Knoblauch said. “I can’t say enough things about what he provides: leadership and what he does on the ice.”

McDavid’s postseason ended in disappointment, scoring no points in the final two games of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Oilers captain praised the Panthers for the way they played in Game 7.

He said, “We knew it was going to be a really tight game and there was going to be something here and there. We were an inch away from going 2-1 up, before they went 2-1 Let it be.” , referencing a bouncing puck that the Panthers cleared from their crease before Sam Reinhart scored the game-winner in the second period. “They did a good job of closing things down. We got our looks. We just didn’t get it.”

This was McDavid’s furthest yet in the Stanley Cup playoffs, after instilling a “cup or bust” mentality for his team the season before.

In nine seasons, McDavid has captured five scoring titles, one goal-scoring title, three Hart Trophy wins as league MVP, and has been named the NHLPA Player of the Year four times. Now, he adds the Conn Smythe Trophy to that collection.

But not the Stanley Cup.

McDavid said, “We never stopped believing. We really believed we were going to get one. Tried a lot. It didn’t work out.” “It sucks…it sucks.”