Who is the MVP of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs?

Tyler Yaremchuk was joined by Frank Seravalli to discuss their picks for MVP of the second round of this year’s playoffs on the latest episode of Daily Faceoff Live.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s put a bow on the second round of the playoffs by picking our MVPs. And there are a bunch of really interesting names here. There are some superstars you can pick but also a depth guy in Jordan Martinook. I’ll let you go first, who’s on your ballot and who is your MVP pick for round two?

Frank Seravalli: Round two MVP for me is the same guy I have at the top of my ballot. I think a big part of it is each round it gets a little bit tougher to win and that should be weighted more heavily in the decision-making process. Reminder everyone, the Conn Smythe is playoff MVP, it’s not Stanley Cup final MVP. So with that in mind, the guy that I am focusing on is Jack Eichel from the Vegas Golden Knights.

He not just leads the Golden Knights in scoring but I also owe him an apology. Because at some point in the last few weeks before the playoffs started I said on the DFO Rundown that Jack Eichel is the NHL’s most disappointing $10 million skater. And the reason I gave the skater caveat is because Sergei Bobrovsky is the NHL’s most disappointing $10 million overall contract.

Let me just eat a healthy dish of crow here. Sergei Bobrovsky is also at the top of many people’s Conn Smythe ballot after round two. But Eichel and what he’s done so far in the playoffs has been incredibly impressive from an overall 200-foot game. Yes, he led the Golden Knights in scoring with nine points in Round 2. But he also got a healthy dose of both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, going toe-to-toe with two of the best players on the planet. And acquitted himself quite well for the Golden Knights.

Eichel gets his first taste of playoff action and to do it and not get overwhelmed by the moment and be your team’s top contributor said a lot to me especially with Mark Stone being as he was in Round 1. Eichel is the guy that kind of stands clear above everyone else when I look at this Golden Knights team that has a legitimate shot to win the Stanley Cup.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The Eichel/Marchessault duo just absolutely dominated the Edmonton Oilers. We touched on Roope Hintz earlier as well, he would definitely be up near the top for me. I’ll give a little more love to Jordan Martinook here Frank. If you’re taking Eichel, I’ll go with the depth that surprised everyone.

If he puts up another 10 points in Round 3 he could be a Conn Smythe candidate but looking at only Round 2 and Martinook would be my guy. If I’m ranking who would most likely win the Conn Smythe, throw Eichel in there, maybe you do throw Sergei Bobrovsky up near the top there and I think Roope Hintz would have a hell of a case as well. But if you’re looking at the Canes Frank, if they were to go on and win the Stanley Cup, who on that team would you rank ahead of him right now?

Frank Seravalli: Probably Aho, that’s it for now. Your point is well made, I would agree that Martinook was the Round 2 MVP in terms of his impact. I think the best part of Jordan Martinook is even he is like how did this happen?

You can watch the rest of the episode here.