The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 last Saturday to take a 2-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup and it was more than enough to create a significant movement in the Conn Smythe trophy race.
Game 3 saw plenty of stars from either side as the Hurricanes did everything they could to get themselves back into contention after being down by as many as four goals. The Golden Knights imposed their will in the second quarter as they found the back of the net four times, highlighted by a hat-trick by Mitch Marner. However, the Hurricanes made a resounding comeback in the third thanks to goals from Taylor Hall, Jordan Martinook, Andrei Svechnikov, and Jordan Staal before falling short in overtime.
Even before Game 3, Marner was already in the conversation for the Conn Smythe trophy, but that performance has now pushed him into pole position as per the latest prices from prediction market apps. The 29-year-old Marner became the fastest player to record a hat-trick in the Cup final after scoring three goals in six minutes and 10 seconds during the second quarter. What’s even more impressive is that Marner also dished out the assist on Shea Theodore’s goal to give the Golden Knights a 4-0 lead at one point in Game 3.
Trailing Marner in the Conn Smythe trophy race is his fellow Canadian and Hurricanes left winger Taylor Hall, who has been extremely outstanding all series long. The 34-year old Hall has quietly put together one of the most impactful performances for the Hurricanes with how he consistently drives play through the neutral zone and keeps the team’s offense moving even in stretches where Vegas has controlled possession. While the Hurricanes have often been forced into reactive hockey against Vegas’ early surges, Hall’s ability to carry the puck through pressure and maintain possession has given the team some sort of lifeline in transition.
Forward Logan Stankoven is another Carolina player that could challenge for the Conn Smythe trophy given his stellar performances in Games 2 and 3. After struggling to find any rhythm in the opener, the 23-year old Stankhoven has made his presence felt in the past two games, most notably in Game 3 where his work rate really stood out and gave the Hurricanes a noticeable lift in pace during key stretches of their comeback attempt. Realistically though, he’ll need to increase his scoring output to truly force his way into the upper tier of the Conn Smythe conversation, especially now with Hall and Marner already delivering stellar individual performances.
As mentioned above, Marner is currently the favorite to win the Conn Smythe trophy. To put everything into perspective, here’s how the current Kalshi prediction market looks for this one.
| Conn Smythe Contenders | Kalshi Prices |
| Mitch Marner | 68% |
| Taylor Hall | 13% |
| Logan Stankoven | 8% |
The good news is that Kalshi lets you get right in on the action and trade on your favorite Conn Smythe trophy contenders in just a matter of minutes. Below is a step-by-step guide on how you can get started.
The case of Marner winning the Conn Smythe trophy is really strong given that the Golden Knights are currently leading in the series and his stellar individual performance overall. However, we are going out on a limb and picking Hall to make a late surge in the next few games or so and lead the Hurricanes back into conversation. One thing we like about Hall and the Hurricanes as a team is that they’re built to wear opponents down over a series. If Hall can start finding space and take advantage of the Hurricanes’ relentless forecheck, then he could very well become the spark the team needs in this series because quite frankly, they badly need one. Check the Kalshi links here if you want to trade on this market.
Loading …
