After years of falling tantalizingly short in the postseason, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers are finally playing for the Stanley Cup.
McDavid is widely considered the best player of his generation and has the résumé to prove it with four Ted Lindsay Trophies and three Hart Trophies. After years of early playoff exits, the Oilers are in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2006 and competing for their first championship since 1990.
But for Edmonton to become the first Canadian club to win the Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993, it will need to take down a fledgling dynasty. The Florida Panthers are back in the Stanley Cup Finals after losing to the Vegas Golden Knights last year and are still searching for their first title in franchise history.
The series has gone back and forth. The Panthers won the first three games before losing the next three games, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7 in Florida on Monday night. If the Oilers win, they’ll become the first team to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Finals since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals, including how to bet on it at our favorite NHL betting sites.
Connor McDavid vs. Aleksander Barkov
McDavid’s individual accomplishments are nearly unrivaled in this era. He’s already led the league in points five times over his first nine seasons, and Alex Ovechkin is the only other active player with at least three Hart Trophies.
The seven-time All-Star has dominated the playoffs so far, which is why he’s the betting favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (-2500 at DraftKings Sportsbook). He leads all players with 42 points in 24 games despite scoring just eight goals.
However, McDavid is facing his toughest test yet. Panthers coach Paul Maurice is almost certain to match up 2024 Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov and his top line against McDavid in an attempt to limit the 27-year-old superstar.
Barkov, who was named best defensive forward for the second time, is having a monster postseason. On top of shutting down superstar opponents like Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak and Artemi Panarin, Barkov has racked up 22 points while averaging 21 minutes per game.
Accordingly, Barkov has the second-shortest Conn Smythe Trophy odds at +1000.
That said, the Final won’t be a true one-on-one battle of top-line centers, especially since the Oilers also have 2020 Hart Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl.
Florida is the deeper team, however, so Edmonton will need McDavid to be productive to have a shot at lifting the trophy.
Special Teams
Special teams and goaltending are usually what decide playoff series, and this Cup Final should be no different.
The Oilers and Panthers rank first and second in penalty-killing in this postseason. Edmonton entered this series on a 28-kill streak (a franchise playoff record) over its previous 10 games.
Florida also has a white-hot penalty kill that allowed only one power-play goal to the New York Rangers — the third-best power-play team in the league — during the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Panthers will face an even tougher test against the Oilers, who had converted 37.3% of their power-play opportunities this postseason (most in NHL) coming into the Finals. Edmonton’s top unit features McDavid, Draisaitl, defenseman Evan Bouchard and forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (who rank top 4 in playoff power-play points) along with Zach Hyman, who is tied for second in postseason power-play goals (five).
The Panthers’ power play has ebbed and flowed throughout the playoffs, sitting at 23.3% entering the Finals. Florida will want to stay out of the penalty box and play the bulk of the series at full strength, as it has the best 5-on-5 scoring percentage in the playoffs (56.4%) coming into the Finals, per Natural Stat Trick.
Stanley Cup Schedule
In recent years, the NHL has built in more breaks during the Stanley Cup Finals to accommodate the travel between the two conferences. The extra rest will be necessary this year, as this series features the longest travel distance between two teams in Stanley Cup history.
Edmonton and Sunrise, Florida are over 2,500 miles apart, breaking the record from the 2007 Stanley Cup between the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators. While both clubs take charter flights, the travel schedule could become an issue the longer the series goes.
The league built in two off days when travel is needed between games, which has extended the season into early summer. Game 7 will be played on June 24, meaning the 2023-24 season officially spanned all four North American seasons.
Aside from the travel, the lengthy schedule could wreak havoc on the Panthers’ playing surface. The Oilers traditionally have the best ice in the NHL, but it’s safe to say the league was not founded with summer hockey in Florida in mind.
Canada’s Cup Curse
Edmonton is known as the City of Champions in Canada, as the Oilers have been the country’s most successful NHL team since joining the league in 1979. Edmonton has won five Stanley Cup titles and played for the Cup seven times while employing some of the greatest players in NHL history, including McDavid, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey.
But much of that success is ancient history as far as hockey fans are concerned, and Canada’s Cup drought will be a topic of discussion until it ends. Six Canadian clubs have played for the trophy since Montreal won it in 1993, and four came within one game of winning it all, including the 2006 Oilers.
Canada is long overdue for a championship, and Edmonton has a chance to bring the hockey-crazy nation its first Stanley Cup title in over 30 years.
Stanley Cup Prediction
Unfortunately for McDavid and the Oilers, the Panthers look like the better team. They’re deeper, have superior goaltending and are battle-tested after reaching the Stanley Cup Finals last year. They also have home-ice advantage, which could be a difference-maker in Game 7.
DraftKings has Florida as the slight home favorite with -115 moneyline odds for Game 7. Edmonton’s high-octane offense will keep things interesting, but the Panthers should prevail.
Prediction: Florida wins series
