Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>) failure. He is re-writing his narrative in these playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n3. Mark Stone, forward, Vegas Golden Knights<\/h2>\n
The best two-way winger of this era. He might be into his mid-30s. He might miss a lot of time due to injuries during the regular season. But he still dictates the pace of play and is one of Vegas’ best impact players. A 70-80 point scorer who defends like he does is invaluable.<\/p>\n
4. Sebastian Aho, forward, Carolina Hurricanes<\/h2>\n
There is not much that jumps off the page at you when it comes to Aho’s skillset or production. He’s not a superstar. He doesn’t score like a superstar. But he’s just simply an outstanding, rock-solid two-way player who has been the foundation of the Hurricanes organization for the past decade. He will give you 25 goals, 80 points and push play every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
5. Nikolaj Ehlers, forward, Carolina Hurricanes<\/h2>\n
It is not often that big free-agent signings pan out and play significant roles on a Stanley Cup contender. Ehlers might be one of the few exceptions. He has given Carolina much-needed boost in terms of impact offensive play, while being a perfect fit for its style of play.\u00a0<\/p>\n
6. Shea Theodore, defense, Vegas Golden Knights<\/h2>\n
Theodore is one of the original Golden Knights and has been there through all of their success. He has also played a central role in all of it. He can drive offense from the back end and play big minutes against the other team’s best players in every situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
7. K’Andre Miller, defense, Carolina Hurricanes<\/h2>\n
In recent years, it would have been a slam-dunk to say Jaccob Slavin was Carolina’s best defender.<\/p>\n
And while Slavin is still excellent, the torch may have been passed over to Miller.<\/p>\n
He has been one of Carolina’s best players from the start of the season, and that’s not coming from anybody other than<\/a> head coach Rod Brind’Amour.<\/p>\n8. Seth Jarvis, forward, Carolina Hurricanes<\/h2>\n
If Carolina has a game-breaking goal-scorer, Jarvis is it. He has scored at least 32 goals in each of the past three seasons, and has done so in the past two seasons by missing nine games one year and 11 in the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
9. Andrei Svechnikov, forward, Carolina Hurricanes<\/h2>\n
If there is a player on the Hurricanes roster who has a superstar skillset, Svechnikov might be the guy. He has a rocket of a shot, is not afraid to use it, and like most players on the team is an elite possession-driver. He is a little frustrating in the sense that you would like to see more goals given his talent, but he’s still outstanding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
10. Pavel Dorofeyev, forward, Vegas Golden Knights<\/h2>\n
Dorofeyev is one of only two drafted-and-developed homegrown players on this Vegas team. He is one of their biggest impact players and one of their best pure goal-scorers, scoring 35 goals in each of the past two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n