Conn Smythe Trophy Winners (NHL Playoff MVP)

Patrick Roy holds the record for the most Conn Smythe Trophies, with three, won in 1986, 1993 and 2001. No other player has won the NHL playoff MVP award more than twice, and Roy’s three came across two franchises and a 15-year span at the position where playoff hockey is often decided.

The Conn Smythe Trophy goes each spring to the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and it has been handed out every year since 1965. It is one of the few major awards that can go to a player on the losing team, which has happened six times. Here is the full list of recent winners, the all-time multiple winners, and how the vote works. Figures are as of the 2025 season.

Recent Conn Smythe Trophy winners

The table lists the playoff MVP for each of the most recent seasons, with the team they led through the postseason.

Year	Winner	Team	Position
2024	Connor McDavid	Edmonton Oilers	Center
2023	Jonathan Marchessault	Vegas Golden Knights	Right wing
2022	Cale Makar	Colorado Avalanche	Defense
2021	Andrei Vasilevskiy	Tampa Bay Lightning	Goaltender
2020	Victor Hedman	Tampa Bay Lightning	Defense
2019	Ryan O’Reilly	St. Louis Blues	Center
2018	Alexander Ovechkin	Washington Capitals	Left wing
2017	Sidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins	Center
2016	Sidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins	Center
2015	Duncan Keith	Chicago Blackhawks	Defense
2014	Justin Williams	Los Angeles Kings	Right wing
2013	Patrick Kane	Chicago Blackhawks	Right wing
2012	Jonathan Quick	Los Angeles Kings	Goaltender
2011	Tim Thomas	Boston Bruins	Goaltender
2010	Jonathan Toews	Chicago Blackhawks	Center

The 2025 Conn Smythe Trophy is presented in June at the conclusion of that year’s playoffs.

The record holder: Patrick Roy and three trophies

Roy won his first Conn Smythe in 1986 as a rookie goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens, backstopping a surprise Cup run. He won it again in 1993, still with Montreal, then a third time in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche. Three playoff MVP awards from two teams, more than a decade apart, is a level of postseason dominance no one else has reached.

Goaltenders feature heavily on this list for a simple reason: a hot goalie can carry an underdog through four rounds, and voters reward that swing. Roy is the extreme example, but Bernie Parent, Ken Dryden, Tim Thomas and Andrei Vasilevskiy all won it on the strength of their goaltending.

Every multiple Conn Smythe winner

Only six players have won the trophy more than once.

Wins	Player	Years
3	Patrick Roy	1986, 1993, 2001
2	Bernie Parent	1974, 1975
2	Bobby Orr	1970, 1972
2	Wayne Gretzky	1985, 1988
2	Mario Lemieux	1991, 1992
2	Sidney Crosby	2016, 2017

Bernie Parent won back-to-back as Philadelphia’s goalie in the mid-1970s. Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby each won twice as the defining player of their era. Crosby is the most recent to join the group, taking it in consecutive years as Pittsburgh repeated as champions.

When the losing team’s player wins

The Conn Smythe is unusual because the writers vote before the Cup is decided, based on the whole playoff run, so occasionally the best player is on the team that falls in the final. It has happened six times. Goaltenders account for most of them: Roger Crozier in 1966, Glenn Hall in 1968, Ron Hextall in 1987 and Jean-Sebastien Giguere in 2003 all won while their teams lost. Reggie Leach in 1976 did it as a forward.

The most recent case is the most striking. Connor McDavid won the 2024 award after a dominant postseason for Edmonton, even though the Oilers lost the Stanley Cup Final in seven games. It underlined how far ahead of the field McDavid can play, and it made him the first skater in decades to win playoff MVP without lifting the Cup.

How the vote works

A panel from the Professional Hockey Writers Association votes at the end of the final, weighing the entire playoff run rather than a single series. Scoring usually drives the choice for forwards, save numbers and shutouts for goalies, and all-round impact for defensemen like Cale Makar and Victor Hedman, both recent winners. Because the award covers four rounds and up to 28 games, it favors players who stay healthy and productive deep into June.

If you follow the NHL’s individual honors, our leaderboards for most goals in NHL history and most assists in NHL history show where these playoff heroes rank across full careers. Patrick Roy’s three Conn Smythes remain the mark to beat, and it has stood alone since 2001.