SUNRISE, Fla. — Ballots revealed Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett narrowly topped teammate Brad Marchand to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs, selected by a panel of Professional Hockey Writers Association members on Tuesday night.
Bennett garnered 11 of a possible 18 first-place votes but Marchand scooped up the other seven and all of the remaining second-place votes, making it a close call for the Conn Smythe. Bennett prevailed by a 76-68 margin in total points, which are awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.
Over the course of Florida’s 57-day quest for a second straight Stanley Cup, Bennett shattered both NHL and Panthers franchise records in becoming one of just a handful of players to win the Conn Smythe without a previous individual NHL Award in his trophy case. Bennett paced the playoffs with 15 goals, tied for second-most in one playoff run in the salary cap era, which also set a Panthers record. But it was his 12 goals scored on the road that set a new NHL high-water mark.
Though he didn’t score in the Cup clinching Game 6, saving all of the love for teammate Sam Reinhart and his four-goal performance, Bennett was Florida’s spark plug. He found the back of the net in the series opener in all four rounds, helping the Cats dig their claws into Tampa Bay, Toronto, Carolina and Edmonton. He also collected at least one point in all of the first five games of the Stanley Cup Final, netting a total of five goals in the pressure-packed Final, third behind teammates Marchand (6) and Reinhart (7). They mark the second trio of teammates to all score at least five times in one Final, joining Alex Delvecchio (6), Gordie Howe (5) and Ted Lindsay (5) of the 1955 Detroit Red Wings.
The 37-year-old Marchand dazzled once again under the brightest lights, scoring backbreaking goals against Edmonton in the Final as his second career Stanley Cup victory dragged Canada’s drought on to 32 years. Acquired in the last hour before the NHL’s trade deadline on March 7, he will go down as one of the best deadline acquisitions of all-time, fitting in seamlessly on a tight Florida team.
With a sparkling .914 save percentage, Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky finished third in Conn Smythe voting. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl also garnered third-place votes in a losing fashion.
Bennett’s Conn Smythe capped an incredible calendar year that included two Stanley Cups in a 359-day span, a career-high 51-point regular season, as well as scoring the game-tying goal for Team Canada in the championship game at the 4Nations Face-Off on American soil. He is just the third player to take home Playoff MVP without a contract in place for next season (Claude Lemieux [1995] and Jean-Sebastien Giguere [2003]), though that will change in short order.
In the interest of full transparency, the PHWA has once again revealed each individual ballot from all 18 voters:
2025 Conn Smythe Trophy Ballots
| Voter | Outlet | First | Second | Third |
| Per Bjurman | Aftonbladet | Bennett | Marchand | Forsling |
| Joshua Clipperton | Canadian Press | Bennett | Marchand | Draisaitl |
| David Dwork | Hockey News | Marchand | Bennett | Draisaitl |
| Luke Fox | Sportsnet | Marchand | Bennett | Bobrovsky |
| Elliotte Friedman | Sportsnet | Marchand | Bennett | Bobrovsky |
| Jason Gregor | Sports 1440 | Bennett | Marchand | Bobrovsky |
| François Gagnon | RDS | Marchand | Bennett | Bobrovsky |
| Chris Johnston | The Athletic | Bennett | Marchand | Bobrovsky |
| Emily Kaplan | ESPN | Marchand | Bennett | Draisaitl |
| Pierre LeBrun | The Athletic | Bennett | Marchand | Bobrovsky |
| Jordan McPherson | Miami Herald | Marchand | Bennett | Draisaitl |
| D. Nugent-Bowman | The Athletic | Bennett | Marchand | Draisaitl |
| Michael Russo | The Athletic | Bennett | Marchand | Draisaitl |
| Frank Seravalli | Daily Faceoff | Bennett | Marchand | Bobrovsky |
| Mark Spector | Sportsnet | Bennett | Marchand | Bobrovsky |
| Teemu Suvinen | Ilta-Sanomat | Marchand | Bennett | Bobrovsky |
| Stephen Whyno | Associated Press | Bennett | Marchand | Bobrovsky |
| Greg Wyshysnki | ESPN | Bennett | Marchand | Draisaitl |
Voting Point Totals
Sam Bennett, Florida: 76 points
Brad Marchand, Florida: 68 points
Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida: 10 points
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton: 7 points
Gustav Forsling, Florida: 1 point
Points were awarded on a 5-3-1 basis and the deadline to submit ballots to the NHL occurred with 10 minutes remaining in Game 6.