Mitch Marner, Connor Hellebuyck among players under most pressure in playoffs

Whether it is fair or not, reputations for players are mostly built on what they do in the playoffs. A great regular season performance can be completely forgotten if it is followed up by a dud in the postseason, especially if there is an expectation for a championship or if there have been playoff shortcomings in the past.

So let's take a look at four players facing the most pressure in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Mitch Marner, forward, Toronto Maple Leafs

The entire Maple Leafs core is under pressure this postseason, and the entire organization is under more pressure than any other team in the NHL. This core group of Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares and William Nylander has managed just a single postseason series win in the past eight years. 

That is not good enough for the talent the team has. 

Marner is always one of the players facing the most scrutiny, and that is going to be especially true this season as he is just a couple of months away from unrestricted free agency. If he wants to stay in Toronto, and if the Maple Leafs have any interest in keeping this core together, playoff success is a must. They can not keep having the same results with the same group. 

Connor Hellebuyck, goalie, Winnipeg Jets

Hellebuyck is one of the best goalies in the world. He has already won two Vezina Trophies (best goalie), should have a third this season and has put together an MVP-caliber season. 

He is the biggest reason Winnipeg finished with the league's best record.

The only thing he has not done for Winnipeg is put together a dominant playoff showing, with his past two playoff appearances being especially bad. He managed a combined .875 save percentage in Winnipeg's playoff appearances the past two seasons, which is not only far below his normal career averages, it is flat out bad. 

He needs a big postseason for Winnipeg to go far. He needs a big performance in the playoffs to change the playoff narrative around him. 

Mikko Rantanen, forward, Dallas Stars

Rantanen has been traded twice this season, going from Colorado to Carolina, and then from Carolina to Dallas where he signed a long-term contract extension to keep him off the free agent market. 

Both the Avalanche and Hurricanes moved him out of fear they would not be able to re-sign him, with Dallas finally being able to give him the deal he wanted (eight years, $96M). That salary brings pressure on its own, but Rantanen also has to show he can be the focal point of a line and an offense and that his production was not just the result of playing alongside Nathan MacKinnon.

In 33 games since he was originally traded from Colorado he has seven goals, 17 assists and 24 total points. That averages out to a 17-goal, 59-point pace over 82 games. A far cry from the 90-100 points he would average in Colorado. 

Small sample size? Absolutely. But he needs a big postseason. 

Stuart Skinner, goalie, Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers should be confident that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are going to be there for them. The questions, again, are going to come down to the Oilers' depth and their goaltending. 

Goaltending is the significant one, as Stuart Skinner is going into the playoffs with an .896 save percentage, well below the league average. 

With No. 2 defenseman Mattias Ekholm sidelined through at least the first round that is going to put even more pressure on Skinner to produce. He came through in the playoffs a year ago for them after a bad regular season. He needs to do it again.