Stanley Cup Final: Oilers vs Panthers Analysis, Predictions, & Betting Picks
The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers will face off for the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers entered the league the same year that the last Canadian market team won the Stanley Cup. Will we see Panthers hoist their first ever Stanley Cup or will the Oilers end the Canadian market drought and bring the cup back to Canada?
This series will mark the longest mileage ever between two teams in the Stanley Cup Final, spanning over 2541 miles. I don’t see this playing into effect much with the way the schedule is structured that enables both teams an extra day of rest between each game of the series versus the prior rounds we’ve seen. US coverage will be on ABC and ESPN+; Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports across Canada. The schedule is as follows:
Game 1: Oilers at Panthers | Saturday, June 8, 8 p.m. ET
Game 2: Oilers at Panthers | Monday, June 10, 8 p.m. ET
Game 3: Panthers at Oilers | Thursday, June 13, 8 p.m. ET
Game 4: Panthers at Oilers | Saturday, June 15, 8 p.m. ET
*Game 5: Oilers at Panthers | Tuesday, June 18, 8 p.m. ET
*Game 6: Panthers at Oilers | Friday, June 21, 8 p.m. ET
*Game 7: Oilers at Panthers | Monday, June 24, 8 p.m. ET
(*if necessary)
Edmonton Oilers
Special teams edge — The Oilers power play over these last couple years has arguably been the best to ever step foot onto the ice, clicking at 37.3% this playoff year. Last year? An astonishing 46.2%. In addition, the Oilers penalty-killing was flawless in the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Stars, and is humming at 93.9% throughout these playoffs. The Oilers look to continue riding their hot hand against the feisty Florida Panthers team.
Seeing the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl battling for the Stanley Cup with the whole country of Canada behind them is going to be electric and great for the game. Since the 2016–2017 season, the only three players that find themselves in the top 10 without a Stanley Cup are David Pastrnak, Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers’ superstars sit in the top three for playoff points over the course of the last 7 seasons: 106 for McDavid and 105 for Draisaitl each doing so in ONLY 67 games played. Video game numbers.
In addition, we could see numerous individual records broken in this Stanley Cup Final. Connor McDavid is closing in on Wayne Gretzky’s record for assists in a single playoff run which was set in the 1987–1988 postseason — needing 5 assists against the Florida Panthers to tie it at 31. Zach Hyman has been an absolute machine for the Oilers, especially in 2023–2024 racking up 54 tucks in the regular season. He is in the chase for goals in a single run (19) that is currently held by two players: Reggie Leach with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975–1976 and Jari Kurri with the Edmonton Oilers in 1984–1985. Hyman, like McDavid, is also 5 back from tying the record that was set decades ago. (Leach ’76 and Gretzky ’85, ’88 awarded Conn Smythe Trophy for Playoff MVP)
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers appear in the Stanley Cup Finals in consecutive seasons and hope to ride on their experience to guide them to their first Cup in franchise history. This is almost the exact same roster as last year with a few more weapons on the front-end after they ran into injuries that crippled them on route to play the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023. “I told you we’d be back” — Matthew Tkachuk to the media immediately after the Panthers took care of business against the Presidents’ Trophy Winners, the New York Rangers. Although Tkachuk is the leading point-getter for the Panthers thus far in the postseason — both Aleksander (Sasha) Barkov and Gustav Forsling have been incredible shutting down the top lines while producing offense across each series they’ve been in. Barkov has held Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, and Artemi Panarin to one or fewer goals in each series. Although Barkov’s two-way play is undervalued, he has been seen as one of the early favorites for the Conn Smythe Trophy. The Panthers have tremendous experience and arguably an advantage over the Oilers on depth throughout the lineup.
We’ve seen throughout the playoffs that the result of regular season matchups does not have much of an impact, but the Panthers swept the season series 2–0. The two teams last played on December 16th that resulted in a 5–1 win for the Panthers on their home ice. Since then, both teams have revamped their lineups and continued their success throughout the season. The Panthers have built their starting and current lineup off what seems like pure attraction to the location and success. 19 of their players were either traded, picked up off of waivers, or signed in free agency. Only three players on the team were initially drafted by the franchise (Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, and Anton Lundell). Just an unbelievable job by general manager, Bill Zito, to craft a lineup that consists of grit, star power, and experience. Zito has been named a finalist for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year in three of his four seasons with the Panthers. Regardless of the outcome of the final series of the 2023–2024 season, it will mark a first in NHL history that someone with the first name Evan will be engraved onto the Stanley Cup (Evan Rodrigues or Evan Bouchard).
Predictions and Betting Picks from the Fifth Liners Team:
Casey Ditzel: Panthers in 6 | Series over 5.5 games
Jorge Bannister: Panthers in 6 | Sam Reinhart: Most points in the series
Jenna Bonomo: Panthers in 6 | Carter Verhaeghe: 25+ shots on goal in the series
Khalin Kapoor: Panthers in 7 | Leon Draisaitl — Most points in the series
Matt Leonardo: Panthers in 6 | Zero shutouts in the series
Nick Kozsan: Panthers in 7 | Carter Verhaeghe: Most goals in the series; McDavid breaks the record of assists in single postseason (31)
