Jordan Staal Wins the Conn Smythe at 37 — and His Story Is the Greatest in This Hurricanes Championship

Before the Carolina Hurricanes had even finished celebrating their 3-0 Game 6 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, Rod Brind’Amour had already said what needed to be said. “We’re not here today without Jordan Staal,” the coach told reporters earlier in the series. “I can promise you that.” On Sunday night, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed it in the most official way possible, handing Staal the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in front of a disbelieving Las Vegas crowd.

Staal is 37 years old. He is the oldest player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe. His previous Stanley Cup title came with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 — a 17-year gap between championships that also sets an NHL record. He has been a Hurricane for 14 years, arriving in a 2012 trade from Pittsburgh on his wedding day. He endured four years without a single playoff appearance after joining the franchise. He became captain in 2020 and watched the team make the playoffs seven straight years without reaching the Final. He carried the weight of every early exit.

On Sunday night, all of it ended in a six-goal Stanley Cup Final — scoring in each of the first five games, the longest goal streak in Cup Final history — and a Conn Smythe that will etch his name alongside some of the greatest players who ever played the game.

What Staal Did — and How He Did It

The numbers in the Stanley Cup Final tell part of the story. Six goals in six games. A faceoff percentage above 56% throughout the series, winning crucial draws that gave Carolina the puck in the moments that mattered. An offensive contribution so elevated from his regular-season average — he averaged 0.71 points per game in the playoffs after 0.48 during the season — that Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall, both excellent, were ultimately passed over for the award.

But the numbers do not capture the culture he created. Staal has never won the Selke Trophy — the award given to the NHL’s best defensive forward — but has been a finalist multiple times. Brind’Amour used him on the power play simply to win faceoffs and give the Hurricanes possession. His teammates could feel his presence even when he was not scoring.

“Each scar, each moment just drives a hunger even deeper into you,” Staal said after the game. “Being a part of this core and all the scars that we’ve gone through just brings that care factor for each other that we want it for each other that much more.”

His six Final goals put him alongside Hall of Famers Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy. He never scored 30 goals in a regular season. But when the Hurricanes needed someone to shoulder the weight of a championship series, Staal delivered something none of those regular-season totals could have predicted.

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Taylor Hall Makes History — and Jaccob Slavin Too

Staal was not the only Hurricane writing his name into the record books. Taylor Hall‘s goal in Game 6 — the first of the night, scored 3:47 in on a wrist shot under Carter Hart’s glove — was his 11th road point of the playoffs, a new franchise record. He had nine points in four series-clinching games across the entire run. Hall becomes the first player in NHL history to be drafted first overall by one team (Edmonton), win the Hart Trophy with a different team (New Jersey), and win the Stanley Cup with a third team entirely.

Defenceman Jaccob Slavin, who set up Hall’s goal with a stretch pass, became just the ninth player in history to win Olympic Gold and the Stanley Cup in the same calendar year.

Nikolaj Ehlers and Frederik Andersen became the second and third Danish players to win the Stanley Cup in NHL history — after Lars Eller won it with Washington in the same building in 2018.

What Happens Next for Both Franchises

The Hurricanes will process the aftermath of their first championship in two decades and then face the decisions every successful team eventually confronts. There are questions about some of the veterans who helped deliver this title, and those conversations will begin in earnest once the celebration settles.

For Vegas, the offseason is more pressing. John Tortorella confirmed during the series that he would be stepping away at season’s end — a decision that opens one of the most coveted coaching jobs in professional hockey. The Golden Knights have reached three Stanley Cup Finals in nine years of existence. Mitch Marner led all playoff scorers with 29 points. Jack Eichel recorded 20 assists. Brett Howden had 14 goals across the postseason. The talent is genuine. The next coach inherits an excellent roster with championship expectations built in from the franchise’s earliest days.

GM Kelly McCrimmon has already shown he will make bold decisions — the mid-season dismissal of Bruce Cassidy with eight games left in the regular season remains one of the most striking moves of the NHL year. Ryan Craig, widely regarded as one of the league’s most promising up-and-coming coaches, is waiting in the wings. Whether Tortorella reverses course or Craig gets his opportunity, the answer will shape how quickly Vegas responds to what happened Sunday night.

The Stanley Cup parade in Raleigh is expected later this week. The exact date has not yet been confirmed. The 2006 celebration began at Carter-Finley Stadium and wound around what is now the Lenovo Center. Twenty years on, North Carolina finally has another reason to celebrate.

Complete Conn Smythe Trophy Winners List

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