Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers Prepare for Stanley Cup Finals

Last year’s Stanley Cup runner-up, the Florida Panthers, are set to host the Edmonton Oilers on June 8 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Panthers took care of the New York Rangers on Saturday in Game 6, and then on Sunday, the Oilers knocked out the Dallas Stars in a sixth game.

The Panthers have never won the Cup, but they are the pre-series betting favorite, paying -130. Florida has home ice in the Finals, hosting Game 1 and Game 2 on June 8 and June 10, and potentially playing a Game 7 at home on June 24.

For the Oilers, this is their eighth Stanley Cup Finals appearance, and they are five-time champions. They haven’t won it since 1990, and no Canadian team has won the Cup since 1993. Since the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings that year, this will be just the sixth time that a Canadian team made it to the Finals. The last time for the Oilers was 2006, when they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

Conn Smythe Trophy Odds

The most valuable player of the playoffs is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy every year, and the favorite as we head into the Finals is Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. If you saw his goal in the first period on Sunday, you know why. McDavid is an unstoppable force, and three times he’s won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the season MVP.

McDavid is paying +220 to win his first Conn Smythe Trophy and be the playoff MVP.

Florida has Aleksander Barkov as their most likely Conn Smythe winner. He is paying +425. He was the second overall pick by the Panthers in 2013, and two weeks ago, he won the Selke Trophy for being the league’s best defensive forward. He has six goals and 17 points in the playoffs.

Just behind Barkov is Sergei Bobrovky at +450. The 35-year-old Panthers goaltender stopped 23 of 24 shots in the clinching win over the Rangers, and for the playoffs, his goals against average is just 2.20.

Matthew Tkachuk is fourth on the Conn Smythe odds board at +600. When Tkachuk was on the ice in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Panthers outscored the Rangers, 11-4. Tkachuk began his career in Calgary, and famously said at the time of his trade to Florida in 2022, “I hate Edmonton.”

Two Oilers are tied for the fifth-shortest odds, with Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard paying +900. Draisaitl is a forward with 10 goals and 28 points in the playoffs. Bouchard is a defenseman with six goals – three of them game-winners – and 27 points.

Exact Series Results

The Panthers are modest -130 favorites to win the series, and as you can see from the exact series results odds, bookmakers are expecting this to be a very good Stanley Cup Finals.

Panthers 4-0 (+1100)

Panthers 4-1 (+550)

Panthers 4-2 (+500)

Panthers 4-3 (+425)

Oilers 4-0 (+1300)

Oilers 4-1 (+750)

Oilers 4-2 (+475)

Oilers 4-3 (+550)

Only two players in this series have previously won the Stanley Cup. Florida’s Vladimir Tarasenko won it with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. For Edmonton, Corey Perry won it with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. Perry also was in the finals with three different teams in 2020, 2021, and 2022, but was a loser each time.

For Game 1, Florida pays -142 on the moneyline. Edmonton is at +120.