Connor McDavid has led the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006.
He tops all playoff scorers with 31 points in 18 games, making him the favorite at +200 (33.3% implied probability) to win the Conn Smythe Trophy even though the Oilers are slight underdogs to the Panthers.
Having the Conn Smythe favorite on the underdog team proves how important the betting market believes McDavid is to the Oilers' success, and it also accounts for the rare possibility that McDavid can still win the award if Edmonton falls short in the final.
Oddsmakers at theScore Bet priced McDavid's chances of winning the playoff MVP on a losing Oilers side at +1000 (9.1% implied probability).
If he pulls off that feat, it would be the first time the award went to someone on the losing team since Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who lost to the Devils as a member of the 2003 Ducks.
McDavid can strengthen his Conn Smythe case with another series of elite point production. He's averaging 1.72 points per game but will need to increase that to break Wayne Gretzky's single-playoff record.
It's a long shot, but the odds for McDavid to eclipse Gretzky's 47-point single-postseason record are set at +2500 (3.8% implied probability).
McDavid would likely need the series to go to seven games - odds are +200 it will go the distance - and he would need to record nearly 2.5 points per game against a stout Panthers team.
However, McDavid is only six points away from breaking Evgeni Malkin's mark for most playoff points since 2000, so his heroic effort during this playoff run shouldn't go unrecognized.
Perhaps a more obtainable record for McDavid is most points in a Stanley Cup Final. The current mark is 13, also held by Gretzky, and oddsmakers at theScore Bet are giving McDavid a 15.4% chance (+550 odds) of recording 14 or more points against Florida.
