Every year in the NHL playoffs there are unsung heroes. Stars or superstars that elevate to another level. Goaltenders that lead their teams to heights no one expected and sometimes even championships.

The latter two usual garner MVP attention and many times have the Conn Smythe Trophy presented to them after the final game of the playoffs is complete.

The 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs have seen Jonathan Toews runaway with the MVP talk through the first 3 rounds. His point production has slowed in the finals with only 1 assist and -1 rating through 3 games. However he is still the front-runner and if Chicago ends up hoisting Lord Stanley’s mug more than likely Toews the captain of the Blackhawks will be presented with 2 sets of hardware.

Some other names have started to enter into race for playoff MVP. Duncan Keith and Antti Niemi and for the Flyers, Mike Richards and Chris Pronger certainly have earned the right to be considered playoff MVPs.

In the background a player whose name and reputation is nowhere near the heights of the players listed above is starting to make some of the voters lean in a different direction, or at least should have people thinking twice before they submit their vote.

Claude Giroux’s flare for being at his best when the games are most important has become not a surprise in these playoffs but the reality. The 22 year-old Giroux is averaging a point per game in the playoffs (20 points in 20 games).

On the surface that may not seen that impressive. It has him 7 points back of Toews for the overall lead. He’s 4 back of his team leader in points (Danny Briere). But once you dig a little deeper you start to understand just how impressive his playoff performance has been and how important he has been to the surprising run of the Philadelphia Flyers. A team that made the playoffs on the final day of the regular season with a shootout win over the New York Rangers. The winner scored by no other than Giroux, imagine that.

The Flyers are a deep team at the forward position, thus the youngster Giroux is relegated to centre the 3rd line and plays on the 2nd powerplay unit, with some penalty killing duty.

Through the playoffs he has averaged 18:44 of ice time per game. This is a full 2:08 less than Jonathan Toews. Mike Richards averages 21:53 better than 3+ minutes more a game. Giroux averages 3:34 on the PP each game and he certainly makes the most of it with 11 of his 20 points coming with the man advantage.

Giroux not only plays less on average than Toews or Richards, but his linemates have been a mix of Arron Asham, James vanReimsdyk and Dan Carcillo through the playoffs. Not exactly players at the same skill level of Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien, or Richards’ linemates of Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter. However Giroux makes these guys look better. There could be an argument that no team in the playoffs has had as an effective 3rd line as the Flyers. Probably a huge reason why they’re in the Stanley Cup finals.

Another factor that has to weigh in favour of Giroux is that with all the line matching that coaches participate in during the course of a series, his unit is usually out against either of the top 2 units on the opposition team. Even with the responsibility of ensuring his unit is keeping the puck out of the net (as proven by his +9 rating good enough for 3rd amongst NHL forwards in the 2010 playoffs) he has managed to contribute 9 goals and 11 assists to the Flyers offensive attack.

Even after all the statistical breakdown it really comes down to what the essences of playoffs MVP is all about. That is showing up when it’s most important.

Looking at the turning point games or the crucial game/moment of a series  during the Flyers’ run this post-season you can almost always see Giroux’s impact on the scoresheet. Round 1, game 5 against New Jersey with a chance for the Flyers to end the series with a depleted line up Giroux contributes 2G and 1A for 3 points.

Against the Boston Bruins in the final 4 games of the series after falling behind 3 games to nil. Giroux contributed 1G and 3A for 4 points. Including a shift in the final 2 minutes of the 3rd period where he controlled the puck in the Bruins zone for a total of 31 seconds with big Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk unable to strip the puck from him. All but ending any chance for the Bruins to tie the game up with the extra attacker.

Move to round 3 and the Montreal Canadiens. Game 4, Philly up 2 games to 1 with a chance to apply the proverbial stranglehold and head back to Philly up 3-1. Giroux scores 2 goals including the game winner, in all Giroux has 6 points in that series.

Finally, game 3 of the finals, in Philadelphia with the Flyers needing a win to stave off another 3 games deficit. Claude Giroux starts a breakout play from the Flyers blueline, head mans the puck to Briere and drives the net finishing off a beautiful passing play with a deft tip that got by Niemi for the overtime winner. Ending the night with a huge win to go along with his 2 assists for a 3 point night.

The Flyers and their fans hope the Stanley Cup finals are not decided in less than 6 games and if the Flyers end up winning the 2010 Stanley Cup my guess is Claude Giroux will have more impact on the remaining games.

The race for the Conn Smythe has another candidate. I just hope I’m not the only one that noticing.

Late in the NHL season when the playoffs looked all but lost for the Philadelphia Flyers, GM Paul Holmgren was quite blunt when he advised that the off-season would see a lot of changes in Philly. “Players that expect to be back might not be”

Holmgren also went on to admit that the Flyers number one priority was going to be acquiring a young franchise netminder who could potentially man the hemp huts for the next decade or so.

Fast forward to late May and Philadelphia holds a two games to none series lead or the Cinderella Montreal Canadiens. Add to that Michael Leighton stopping every single shot he has faced in the series with back-to-back donuts and one wonders if Holmgren still feels the same way as he did in mid-April.

As great as the run Philly is currently enjoying I think Holmgren was onto something with the suggestion that some common faces in the line up might need to call their real estate agents in the summer.

This great run by the Flyers has hopefully allowed the front office brass to observe and realize something I have. That being, the lack of consistency the Flyers had suffered for the last 2 seasons could be attributed to simply too many quality players all being shuffled around and playing out of familiar position.

With Jeff Carter out of the line up since game 4 of the first round versus the New Jersey Devils, coach Peter Laviolette was forced to inject Ville Leino into the line up and he was placed on the right-side with Daniel Briere moving back from the wing to his natural centre ice position. Briere has responded to the comfort of centre ice by being tied for the team lead in playoff points with 18.

Manning the middle on the third unit, or as I like to refer to it line 2B. Claude Giroux who spent all season being Mr. Versatility and playing anywhere from 3rd line centre to 1st line right-wing. Is back as the constant centre between James vanReimsdyk and Arron Asham to form a very solid 3rd line.

Although Carter is only a season removed from eclipsing the 40 goal mark you can clearly see how well the Flyers centre ice position has flowed since he unfortunately went down with a broken foot.

Back to the reason for trading Carter in the off-season. With Danny Briere having an almost immovable contract and a No Trade Clause (NTC) to boot. Along with the untouchable Mike Richards and the very soon to be untouchable Claude Giroux. Carter is the best asset Holmgren has to potentially fill any holes he still believes the Flyers to have.

That need may no longer be in nets. Now I’m not suggesting Leighton’s late season run and 3 1/2 games of playoff experience has solidified him as a true NHL starter. But we all know how difficult and poor the decision-making process seems to be for the Flyers front office when talking about that goaltending position. So I would not be surprised to see the Flyers go the cheap route and sign Leighton for a lot less than this “potential franchise netminder”.

With Jeff Carter slated to earn $5.5M in 2010-11 (cap hit of $5M) and with no NTC in his contract. He’s obviously Holmgren’s best asset to help land the big time netminder if the Flyers still feel the need to acquire one.

25-year-old Jeff Carter’s trade market value would probably be a starting goalie or top six forward and a 1st round pick. Seeing as the Flyers will have no need to arrive at the NHL entry draft on the Friday for the next two summers due to the Pronger deal (Anaheim received Philadelphia’s 1st round picks for both the 2010 and 2011 drafts along with Joffrey Lupul and Luca Sbisa). Carter could help fill a hole in the immediate line up and possibly have the Flyers drafting somewhere in round 1.

If I’m Paul Holmgren, I take a look at my finances which are bleak and I think I can probably re-sign Michael Leighton in the $2.5-3M/yr range and bring in a reliable and affordable back up with NHL experience. When I look at the rest of the my line up, assuming I can re-sign RFA Braydon Coburn I’m pleased with my top 4 defensemen and Parent and Bartulis are coming along nicely as young defenders in the NHL.

Lines 2a and 2b are pretty much set with Briere, Leino and Hartnell showing great chemistry and JVR, Giroux and Asham proving to be one of the better “third” units in the league. The only weak link amongst the top nine forwards is Dan Carcillo. He is simply not a first line player.

Finding a big, fast and skilled right-winger to compliment Richards and Gagne would make the Flyers that much more formidable in 2010-11. A player that would probably fit beautifully along side Richards and Gagne is Nathan Horton of the Florida Panthers. A big, strong kid that has toiled in Florida for 6 seasons that seems to be shopped around the NHL year in and year out could be a player Philly could scoop.

Horton, 24 has a cap hit of $4M until the 2013 which means the Flyers would save $1M in the trade. Along with Horton it would not be obscene to think Holmgren could ask for a first round pick from the Panthers as well. A pick the Flyers could use to add some prospect depth to the organization that finds itself a tad thin in that area with many of their prospects from a few years ago graduating to the NHL.

I’m not suggesting Florida wants to make this deal. With newly hired Dale Tallon as GM no one at this point can be quite sure what his plans will be to rebuild the franchise that has not made it to the post-season in almost a decade. But Florida certainly lacked scoring and offensive identity and they would have to at least listen to a potential trade that could land them a player of Carter’s ability.

So whether the Flyers end up Stanley Cup champions, finalists or allow Montreal to complete another miracle and eliminate them from the post-season in the conference finals. Holmgren should think long and hard about how good his team looks with the roster being iced on a nightly basis and how much better it could look if he makes the right decisions with Jeff Carter.