The 2026 Stanley Cup Final offers a straight-up star showdown: Vegas versus Carolina, with enough talent on both sides to make the TV ratings argument feel like background noise. The Golden Knights probably hold the edge at the very top of the roster, and it's not close. Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner are genuine superstars, and they are the main reason Vegas rolled through the Presidents' Trophy winners in the Western Conference Final without much resistance.
The Hurricanes are no slouches either. A team doesn't go 12-1 through the first three rounds without serious talent on the roster. Sebastian Aho has been an elite two-way center for years now, and this is his chance to get the recognition that's long been overdue. On defense, Jaccob Slavin is one of three players in this series trying to win a Stanley Cup after taking home Olympic gold in February. The goaltending situation on both sides is worth watching—Carter Hart and Frederik Andersen both showed plenty of warts during the regular season, and it's fair to wonder if those resurface under Cup Final pressure.
The matchup already has enough history; the job is to keep the reading list shorter than the tension.
Top 10 Players in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final
10. K'Andre Miller | D | Carolina Hurricanes
Miller was a very good player with the New York Rangers, but there always seemed to be more left in the tank. After getting traded to Carolina, he's reached his full potential on a team that knows how to maximize its defensemen. In these playoffs, Miller has posted a 64.6% expected goals share and a plus-13 goal differential at five-on-five. He's given the Hurricanes another stud in their top four, and that could be a key edge against Vegas.
9. Pavel Dorofeyev | RW | Vegas Golden Knights
Eichel and Marner are elite playmakers, but someone has to put the puck in the net. Dorofeyev has become exactly that kind of scorer—the 25-year-old winger has 72 goals over the last two seasons, and he's a weapon on the power play with 20 man-advantage goals in the regular season. His four playoff tallies are part of why Vegas is converting at a 23.9% clip on the power play this postseason.
8. Nikolaj Ehlers | LW | Carolina Hurricanes
Ehlers might be the fastest player on either team, and in a series where time and space will be hard to find, that speed could make all the difference. After a slow start in his first season with Carolina, Ehlers finished strong with 27 points in the final 23 regular-season games. He's at nine points in the playoffs, with five of those coming in the final four games of the Eastern Conference Final.
7. Jaccob Slavin | D | Carolina Hurricanes
One of the best shutdown defensemen in the NHL, Slavin eats minutes against top competition and thrives in those matchups. Over the last three seasons, he's posted a 57.5% expected goals share at five-on-five. His defensive chops were on full display at the Olympics, where Team USA leaned on him en route to a gold medal. You'll see his name on the ice just about every time you look up.
6. Shea Theodore | D | Vegas Golden Knights
Theodore is still one of the more underrated defensemen in the league when it comes to the national audience. He dominates his minutes while also contributing on offense. In these playoffs, the Golden Knights have allowed just 2.32 xGA/60 with Theodore on the ice at five-on-five, while generating 2.9 xGF/60. He'll need to do a little bit of everything against a deep Hurricanes team.
5. Seth Jarvis | RW | Carolina Hurricanes
Jarvis has led the Hurricanes in goals for two straight seasons and has eclipsed the 30-goal mark three years in a row. At 5-foot-10, he plays with an intensity that lets him win battles against bigger players, making him one of the most entertaining players in this series. The issue: his goal-scoring hasn't translated in the postseason. He has just three goals in 13 games, and his shooting percentage has dropped from a career 14.2% to just 9.1% in these playoffs.
4. Sebastian Aho | C | Carolina Hurricanes
Aho represents a theme running through the top four—elite two-way forwards who impact the game in every phase. For almost a decade, he's played elite hockey at both ends of the ice, even if the recognition hasn't matched that performance. He produced at a point-per-game pace in the regular season for the second time in three years. The offense hasn't quite carried over to the playoffs (seven points in 13 games), and his line with Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov has underperformed as a whole.
3. Mark Stone | RW | Vegas Golden Knights
Even at 34, Stone is a strong play driver who creates offense with relentless, intelligent defense. In the regular season, he played at a Selke Trophy level, posting a 59.2% expected goals share and a plus-19 goal differential at five-on-five. Those numbers haven't been quite as good in the playoffs, and he missed Games 2 and 3 of the Western Conference Final with an injury. When he returned in Game 4, he looked healthy and scored a gorgeous goal. Assuming Stone is relatively healthy for the Cup Final, he's a game-changer for Vegas.
2. Mitch Marner | RW | Vegas Golden Knights
Before this season, the only question about Marner was whether he could be at his best when it mattered most. Playoff disappointments in Toronto tainted his resume, sometimes unfairly. But he's silenced those critics now. Marner leads the playoffs with 21 points, and Vegas has outscored opponents 10-7 with him on the ice at five-on-five. His offensive skill doesn't come at the expense of his defense—in the regular season, Vegas allowed just 2.21 xGA/60 with Marner in the game at five-on-five.
1. Jack Eichel | C | Vegas Golden Knights
Marner has been pushing for the No. 1 spot throughout these Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it's easy to see why. Eichel has been the best player on the best team, and his combination of skill, playmaking, and competitiveness makes him the clear top player in this series. He's the driving force behind Vegas's championship push, and everything flows through him.