from Chris Smith of Forbes,

On Wednesday night the puck drops on Game 1 of the NHL Finals, a showdown between the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning. Both teams are stacked with top-tier stars, yet none has played better than Chicago D-man Duncan Keith. He’s thus far contributed 18 points – tied for fifth-most among all players this postseason – while generating a Corsi differential of 90 over Chicago’s 17 playoff games. He’s arguably the hottest player in this year’s Finals, and that sort of performance explains why Chicago signed Keith to a 13-year, $72 million deal back in 2009.

But perhaps a more interesting question is which players are performing best relative to their contracts. After all, the All-Stars collecting millions are naturally expected to perform far better than those filling in on the fourth line.

And though Keith has played better than anyone else in this year’s Finals, that $5.54 million cap hit keeps him off the top our list. The No. 1 spot belongs instead to Tampa Bay’s Tyler Johnson, which probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who’s been watching him play. The Lightning center isn’t exactly low-paid, thanks to a three-year, $10 million contract, but that $3.33 million cap hit is still a far cry from the massive deals owned by other Finals competitors like Steven Stamkos ($7.5 million cap hit) and Patrick Kane ($6.3 million). And yet Johnson has 21 points and 12 goals thus far, both highest among playoff players.

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