Cardiac Cane
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Carolina Hurricanes: Top 5 Conn Smythe Candidates

By Matthew Nidiffer

RALEIGH, NC - MAY 01: Carolina Hurricanes right wing Justin Williams (14) celebrates with teammates after scoring the game winning goal during a game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders on May 1, 2019 at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - MAY 01: Carolina Hurricanes right wing Justin Williams (14) celebrates with teammates after scoring the game winning goal during a game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders on May 1, 2019 at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 26: Jordan Staal #11 of the Carolina Hurricanes scores at 4:04 of overtime against the New York Islanders and is joined by Teuvo Teravainen #86 in Game One of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Barclays Center on April 26, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Hurricanes defeated the islanders 1-0 in overtime.(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 26: Jordan Staal #11 of the Carolina Hurricanes scores at 4:04 of overtime against the New York Islanders and is joined by Teuvo Teravainen #86 in Game One of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Barclays Center on April 26, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Hurricanes defeated the islanders 1-0 in overtime.(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

4. Jordan Staal

Jordan Staal is yet another forward that seems to have found his stride in the playoffs. Staal missed a significant portion of this season with a concussion, but still managed to put together a 28-point performance in 50 regular season games played.

Staal has been an absolute beast in both the latter half of the season and in the playoffs. He has already tied his postseason best performance of 9 points, notching 4 goals and 5 assists in 11 playoff games played so far this year.

On top of Staal’s offensive prowess, the 30 year-old Center has been a leader both on and off the ice, and has played a huge part in the Hurricanes’ penalty kill. Most of, if not all of Staal’s points this postseason have been in clutch moments, and have been a huge help in pulling the Hurricanes past both the Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders.

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