Carolina Hurricanes captain and centre Jordan Staal of Thunder Bay, Ontario made National Hockey League history on Sunday by becoming the oldest player ever to win the Conn Smythe Trophy according to Tom Gulitti of nhl.com. Staal received the honour at 37 years and 277 days old.
The previous oldest player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy was Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins. Thomas was 37 years and 61 days old when he was named the Stanley Cup Playoff most valuable player in 2011.
In 19 postseason games, Staal had eight goals and four assists for 12 points. He was a +6 with 13 penalty minutes, four power-play points, one shorthanded point, one game-winning goal, 36 shots on goal, 235 faceoff wins, nine blocked shots, 86 hits, three takeaways, and 13 giveaways.
Staal led all NHL players with 235 faceoff wins. Jack Eichel of the Golden Knights was second with 186 faceoff wins.
Staal’s postseason shorthanded point came on May 7 in a 4-1 Hurricanes win over the Philadelphia Flyers in game three of the 2026 Eastern Conference semifinals. Staal set up defenseman Jalen Chatfield for the game winning goal with four minutes and one second left in the second period to put the Hurricanes up 2-1 at the time. Jordan Martinook of Brandon, Manitoba had the other assist.
Staal’s postseason game-winning goal came on June 9 in game four of the Stanley Cup final. Staal scored from Nikolaj Ehlers at 6:32 of the third period in a 5-3 Hurricanes win over the Golden Knights. At the time, the Hurricanes went up 4-3 in the game. With the win, the Hurricanes tied the series at two.
The major reason why Staal was honoured with the Conn Smythe Trophy is because of his performance in the Stanley Cup Final against Vegas. He broke a Hurricanes franchise record for most goals in a series (six). He also had one assist for seven points, was a +2 with two penalty minutes, three power-play points, one game-winning goal, and 18 shots on goal.
Staal is the second Canadian in Hurricanes’s franchise history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. Goaltender Cam Ward of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan won the award when Carolina won the Stanley Cup in 2006.
In Staal’s career, he has won two Stanley Cups. He also received the honour with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.
