NHL Stanley Cup Preview: Will Edmonton Snap the Canadian Winless Streak?

by Eric Fulton

The 2023-2024 National Hockey League season is coming toward an end. Two teams have emerged from their respective conferences and will now compete for hockey's ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup. For the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, the road to this year's Stanley Cup Final has been extremely different. The Oilers had to climb from the bottom of the rankings and fight as the underdog for most of their playoff run. The Panthers have been one of the NHL's top teams for much of the season and had to beat three rivals in the Eastern Conference to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive year. 
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The Oilers are making their ninth appearance in the Stanley Cup Final and their first since 2006. They are looking to become the first Canadian NHL team to win the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. Much like their championship teams in the 1980s, the Oilers have a dynamic one-two punch that gives goaltenders nightmares along with a strong supporting cast. To the casual fan, comparing current Oilers stars Connor McDavid (32 goals and 100 assists = 132 points in the regular season, 5 goals and 26 assists = 31 points in the playoffs) and Leon Draisaitl (41 goals and 65 assists = 106 points in the regular season, 10 goals and 18 assists = 28 points in the playoffs) to the likes of Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier wouldn't be fair. However, McDavid and Draisaitl have been the premiere scoring duo in the league. They have also been two of Edmonton's successful draft picks over the last 10-plus years. The Oilers have also done well when it comes to acquiring talent in recent years such as Evander Kane and Zach Hyman. Hyman scored a career-high 54 goals in the regular season. Edmonton also has two defensemen that have played extremely well this season. Mattias Ekholm (11 goals and 34 assists = 45 points in the regular season 4 goals and 3 assists = 7 points in the playoffs), who came from the Nashville Predators via a trade last season has provided veteran leadership in the backline. Young Evan Bouchard, who averaged just over a point per game in the regular season (18 goals and 64 assists for 82 points in 81 games), has provided high-scoring offense from the defensive position. That trend has continued in the playoffs. Goaltender Stuart Skinner, who won 36 games in the regular season, has had an up-and-down playoffs but came up big in the closing games of all three rounds to help the Oilers reach the Stanley Cup Final.

Edmonton's season got off to a rocky start and they were in the bottom of the standings in November with a 2-9-1 record. They fired head coach Jay Woodcroft and plucked a coach from the American Hockey League in Kris Knoblauch. From there, the Oilers were one of the best teams in the NHL propelled by a team-record 16-game winning streak, the longest winning streak by a Canadian team in NHL history. In the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they beat the Los Angeles Kings for the third year in a row in five games. In the second round, they beat an improved Vancouver Canucks team who finished first in the Pacific Division and were second overall in the West in seven hard-fought games. In the Western Conference Final, Edmonton defeated the Dallas Stars, who finished first overall in the West, in six games.

The Florida Panthers were the opposite of the Oilers in the regular season. Fresh off making the Stanley Cup Final last year, Florida is looking to redeem themselves in pursuit of winning their first Stanley Cup. In doing so, they would be just the third team ever to win the Stanley Cup after losing the final the previous year (1984 Edmonton Oilers and 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins). After being the surprise team to make the final last year, Florida will come into this year's final as the slight favorite. The Panthers won 52 games in the regular season under head coach Paul Maurice, who is coaching in his third Stanley Cup Final (2023 and 2002 with the Carolina Hurricanes). Offensively, Florida is led by Sam Reinhart, who had career highs in goals and points (57 goals and 37 assists = 94 points in 82 regular season games). They are also led by Matthew Tkachuk (26 goals and 62 assists = 88 points in 80 regular season games), Carter Verhaeghe (34 goals and 38 assists = 72 points in 76 regular season games) and team captain Aleksander Barkov (23 goals and 57 assists = 80 points in 73 regular season games). It is not a surprise that Reinhart (12 points), Tkachuk (19 points), Verhaeghe (17 points) and Barkov (17 points) are the leading scorers for the Panthers in the playoffs. Defensively for Florida, veteran Gustav Forsling is having a career year. He had the best plus-minus in all of the NHL (+56) and is also leading the Panthers in the playoffs in plus-minus rating (+11). Veteran goaltender and two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky is looking to add Stanley Cup champion to his resume. Bobrovsky also won 36 games in the regular season and has been the backbone of Florida's consecutive Stanley Cup Playoff runs.

After winning a franchise-record 52 games in the regular season, Florida had to go through three of its toughest rivals to reach the final. First, they beat their in-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning in five games (Note: This will be the fifth straight year the Lightning or the Panthers have participated in the Stanley Cup Final). In the second round, Florida defeated the Boston Bruins for the second straight season in six games. (Florida defeated Boston in the first round in 2023.) In the Eastern Conference Final, the Panthers would square off against the New York Rangers. Florida went down two games to one after a game-three loss but would bounce back to win the next three games to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

This is not an easy series to pick a winner. I love the offense of the Oilers led by McDavid and Draisaitl. However, the Panthers can provide a tough defense in which they can win a 2-1 or 3-2 game. Can Stuart Skinner outperform Sergei Bobrovsky in the goaltending department? Will the Stanley Cup stay on American soil or will it make its long-awaited return to Canada after three decades? In a bit of a surprise, I have the underdogs, the Edmonton Oilers winning in six games because I would love for the Stanley Cup to return to Canada and have the people (well all of the Oilers fans) celebrate something they love all over again. 

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Stanley Cup Final Schedule
Game One - Saturday (at Florida)
Game Two - Monday - 6/10 (at Florida)
Game Three-Thursday - 6/13 (at Edmonton)
Game Four- Saturday -6/15 (at Edmonton) 
Game Five - Tuesday -6/18 (at Florida) (if necessary)
Game Six - Friday 6/21 (at Edmonton) (if necessary)
Game Seven - Monday 6/24 (at Florida) (if necessary) 

​All games broadcast on ABC