- Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal wins the 2026 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP
- At 37, Staal is the oldest Conn Smythe winner ever and set a record 17-year gap between Cups
- Read below for his six-goal Final and what his teammates said about him
Jordan Staal just became the oldest player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
The Hurricanes captain took home playoff MVP honors after Carolina beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in Game 6 to win the Stanley Cup, the franchise’s first since 2006. At 37 years and 277 days, Staal passed Boston goalie Tim Thomas as the oldest winner in the award’s history.
Watch the moment he got the news:
Staal led every skater with six goals in the Final. He scored in each of the first five games, tying the longest goal streak in a Cup Final, a mark that traces back to Yvan Cournoyer in 1973 and all the way to Cyclone Taylor in 1918.
He set another record that nobody else holds. Staal won his first Cup as a 20-year-old with the 2009 Penguins. Seventeen years later he has his second, the longest gap between titles in league history. The old mark belonged to Chris Chelios at 16 years.
The league summed up his run:
Rod Brind’Amour talked about the offense his captain brought in the Final, per NHL.com:
“It’s not necessarily you’re expecting him to put up those kind of numbers, but when he does, that’s an added bonus. And he deserves it.”
Jordan Martinook was asked about his captain and didn’t hold back:
“That guy is incredible. We don’t need to talk about how old he is, just because he’s a premier center in this League. You talk to every first-line center that we played throughout this playoffs, and I bet you they say they hate playing against Jordan Staal.”
See Staal take the trophy and lift the Cup:
Staal is the second Hurricane to win the Conn Smythe, joining Cam Ward, the rookie goalie who took it during Carolina’s 2006 title. He finished the spring with an NHL playoff career-high 12 points in 19 games. Carolina sealed the title with a Game 6 shutout that brought the Cup back to Raleigh.
