Oilers vs Panthers Preview: The Matchup I Wanted, The Matchup We Deserve

Back in October, when I made my predictions for the 2024-25 NHL season, I stated that I believed we would see a Stanley Cup Final rematch between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers. I honestly believed that despite all the moves many teams made last summer, I didn't think anyone in either conference did enough to surpass Edmonton or Florida.

Of course, new information helps forge new opinions, and when the playoffs began, I stupidly jumped ship as I predicted both teams to make early exits this postseason. Heading into the postseason, both the Oilers and Panthers were fairly banged up and were not playing their best hockey.

But that's what separates good teams from great ones: teams that can overcome adversity are the ones that are most successful, and while things may not always be perfect, they find a way to overcome. And now here we are, with the Stanley Cup Final I initially predicted, the matchup I wanted, and the matchup us hockey fans deserved to get.

As we all know, this is the first rematch in the Stanley Cup Final since 2008 and 2009 when we the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings faced off in the final series' of those seasons where the two teams split.

Last year, the Panthers took the first three games of the series to go up 3-0 but then nearly were the victims of one of the great comebacks in sports history when the Oilers came all the way back to force a game seven where the Panthers ultimately took that game on home-ice to win the franchises first Stanley Cup.

This year, I expect another epic series between the two teams, as I feel both teams have gotten better.

For the Panthers, I just simply believe the roster is better than what it was last year. Of course, they did lose some key pieces of last year's championship-winning team in Brandon Montour and Vladimir Tarasenko; they arguably replaced them with better players at this year's deadline by adding Seth Jones from Chicago and Brad Marchand from Boston. Both Marchand and Jones have elevated their play this postseason and are major reasons why the Panthers are back in this spot. Not to mention, the Panthers were just stacked before adding those two players. Aleksander Barkov is still the best two-way center in hockey; Sam Reinhart has proved over the last two years that he is one of the best scorers in hockey; Matthew Tkachuk is playing hurt but is still great; Sam Bennett has been awesome this postseason with ten goals; Aaron Ekblad has been unreal since coming back from suspension in the first round; and lastly, Sergei Bobrovsky has been reliable to say the least.

The Oilers, on the other hand, I would argue the roster is actually worse than it was last year, but the team's style of play is much more stable and defensively oriented. Edmonton is no longer always in these track meets where they are simply trying to outscore you; they have found a way to protect their zone and get the puck out quickly, which gives Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl the chance to do their thing in the offensive zone. To beat Florida this time around, Edmonton will need to continue this play and also will need to continue to get the depth scoring they have gotten all playoffs long and maybe even some with Zach Hyman out of the lineup, who broke his wrist in the Western Conference Final and is out for this series.

All of these factors should lead to a great series in the second edition of this matchup.

Prediction: Oilers In Six

This series is going to be an absolute war. I just have a tough time seeing Edmonton and Connor McDavid losing in the Cup Final two years in a row, and it was my main reason for picking Florida last year. I don't think you can fake desperation, and while you can argue everyone wants to win, I think the motivation of getting their get-back by avenging last year's loss is the thing that gets the Oilers the Cup this time around.

The Stanley Cup Final hasn’t gone to a Game 7 in back-to-back years since 2003 and 2004. And while I would not be shocked if we get a Game 7 once again, I think Edmonton finishes the job in six games—lifting the Cup for the first time since 1990 and bringing the Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993 as Connor McDavid finally wins his first ring.