Draisaitl and McDavid vs. Rantanen a matchup to watch in Western Conference Final

After one day without playoff hockey, the chase for the Stanley Cup resumes Tuesday night with the start of the conference finals — and the star power still in contention is off the charts.

Leon Draisaitl is the betting favourite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after he and Connor McDavid got defending Western Conference champion Edmonton through two series against tough opponents. That is also partially the case because the Oilers are Cup favourites according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

Mikko Rantanen leads all scorers in the postseason with 19 points in 13 games to get the Dallas Stars into a West final rematch against the Oilers that they hope goes the other way this time.

"They've got one of the best playoff players of all time in Mikko Rantanen in their lineup, and that might be one factor that allows them to have the narrative be different this year and beat the Oilers," retired defenceman and three-time Cup champion Ken Daneyko said.

"He's a money player. He's big, he's strong, he's built for this."

Edmonton's antidote to the Rantanen and the Finns — Mikael Granlund, Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell and healthy Miro Heiskanen — is the combination of McDavid and Draisaitl. They have 17 and 16 points, respectively, and will be the Stars' focal point in the series beginning Wednesday night in Dallas.

"They're a different team this year," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said.

"They're a deeper team this year than they were last year. You see they're getting scoring from a lot of places other than McDavid and Draisaitl, and they still have that element, obviously, every night."

Yes, 16 different skaters have scored a goal for the Oilers, but they will likely go only as far as Nos. 97 and 29 take them. McDavid was playoff MVP a