Ryan Hodges
Nearly a year after the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup, they meet yet again for the right to hoist hockey’s ultimate prize. This has the makings of another all-time series. Both teams are arguably better than they were last year, but potentially more hurt than they were last year. For the Panthers, it is their 3rd trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in as many years as they look to become the 3rd team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups in the last decade. It’s a different story for the Oilers, who have not won the Stanley Cup since 1990. They will look to be the first Canadian team to win the Cup in over 30 years. This series has it all, and it will make for fantastic entertainment. If you will be watching and want to place a few wagers on the series, here is a preview, along with few markets that caught our eye.
Along with our 2025 Stanley Cup Final preview, be sure to check out all of our NHL predictions for the upcoming Panthers vs Oilers series!
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2025 NHL Stanley Cup Final odds
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook and available at time of publishing.
Stanley Cup Final winner odds
- Florida Panthers +100
- Edmonton Oilers -120
Conn Smythe Trophy odds
- Connor McDavid +110
- Sergei Bobrovsky +250
- Aleksander Barkov +550
- Leon Draisaitl +750
- Matthew Tkachuk +1800
- Sam Bennett +3000
- Carter Verhaeghe +4000
Stanley Cup Final Game 1 odds
Money Line
- Florida Panthers +110
- Edmonton Oilers -130
Puck Line
- Florida Panthers +1.5 (-230)
- Edmonton Oilers -1.5 (+190)
Total
- Over 6.5 (+105)
- Under 6.5 (-125)
Panthers vs Oilers Stanley Cup Final predictions:
Oilers win the Stanley Cup (-120)
It is no secret that the team who loses the Stanley Cup Finals, as with the Championship of any sport, feels brutal heartbreak. But witnessing it behind the scenes on last year’s Amazon series, ‘Faceoff: Inside the NHL’, amplified the feeling for the viewer as well. The emotion in Edmonton’s locker room was palpable, even through a screen. Rarely, though, do teams get a chance at redemption so soon after that heartbreak, let alone the following year. That is where the Oilers are now. The wound from last year is still fresh enough for them to know they want nothing to do with that feeling again. This is a great team that will have an even bigger chip on their shoulder, that has now been there, done that. They now just need that 4th win in the 4th series.
In addition to the narrative and the pure desperation, this team has been plain dominant since late-April. Since losing the first 2 games of this postseason to the Kings, the Oilers have gone 12-2 with a +25 goal differential. It is an even more impressive run considering who they beat. The Kings, Golden Knights, and Stars respectively finished 4, 9, and 5 points better than the Oilers during the regular season. Vegas and Dallas specifically were juggernauts all year. Edmonton beat them both in 5 games. In no way is this sleeping on a Panthers team that is here for a 3rd straight year and for good reason. But the Oilers have had arguably a tougher road to the Finals, dominated that tougher road, and now have home-ice advantage. The Oilers are in a great spot to redeem last year’s loss.
6 total games played in the series (+200)
If the Oilers are indeed able to conquer the Panthers, they will be keen to avoid 7 games. Last year, Game 7 was a blessing for Edmonton, until it wasn’t, because Florida won the first 3 games of the series. Having gone through the adversity of a 3-game comeback, followed by the pressure, intensity, and eventual heartbreak of a Game 7, the Oilers would love nothing more than to win this series in an efficient enough fashion that they avoid that 7th game. Having gone through 3 impressive teams in 16 total games to get here, it looks like the Oilers have held to that desire not to go a full-series length and to keep their foot on the gas when they are in control.
Granted, there is a lot of a “Lessons learned” narrative or theme in these picks. Obviously, narratives can only go so far. Especially when playing a team like the Panthers. But being battle tested and hardened by prior playoff heartbreak has consistently resulted in winners. Before winning the Stanley Cup last year, the Panthers lost in the Finals the year before. Vegas and Tampa had recently experienced heartbreak before it was their turn. Back further, Sidney Crosby’s first Cup came the season after losing in the Finals. The narrative exists for a reason and this year, it favors the Oilers. These players and coaches learn both easy and hard lessons with each playoff game played. This year, the Oilers have learned how to win efficiently against good teams and how brutal the feeling is to lose that they want to avoid.
Read our full Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers Game 1 predictions
Panthers vs Oilers Stanley Cup Final best bets:
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Connor McDavid repeats as Conn Smythe winner (+110)
The Oilers lost the Stanley Cup Final last year and Connor McDavid still won the Conn Smythe. He became the 6th player in NHL history to win the award despite being on the losing team, and the first to do so since 2003. It made sense. McDavid led all postseason players with 34 assists and 42 points along with a +12 rating in an average of over 23 minutes of ice-time per game. This postseason, he yet again leads all players with 20 assists and 26 points through 16 games played. He also leads the playoffs with 59 shots on goal, his +10 rating is once again just 2 off the playoff leader, and he is logging over 23 minutes of ice-time per game again.
While it is not exactly going out on a limb, it is too difficult to fade McDavid for the Conn Smythe. He already enters this series in the best position to do so based on his performance and stats thus far, hence leading the odds. But the +110 still feels like decent value considering it would be reasonable if it was in the -115 to -120 range. McDavid has been a man on a mission for years now. Last year his heart was completely ripped out of his chest, and there is nothing he wants to avoid more than having that feeling for a 2nd time in as many years. This will be the most urgent, intense, motivated version of Connor McDavid the hockey world will have seen. Look for him to have a potential all-time performance and add another Conn Smythe to his trophy case.
Series over 35.5 total goals scored (-115)
Neither the Panthers or Oilers are strangers to high totals. Despite having a stellar goaltender keeping the opposition off the board for the most part, the over has hit in 14 out of Florida’s last 19 games. Those trends have a good chance to continue as both teams enter this series with red-hot offensive production. The Panthers have scored 5+ goals in 5 out of their last 6 games and in 7 out of their last 10. The Oilers have scored 4+ goals in 3 straight games, and have either scored or allowed 4+ goals in 7 out of their last 10. Head to head, the total has gone over in 6 out of the last 7 played between these teams from last year’s Stanley Cup Final and a couple of matchups this year. In last year’s Finals, the Oilers scored an impressive 18 goals in their 3 wins. Obviously, the Panthers won the series. But if Edmonton’s recipe is going to emphasize goal scoring, it will bode well for both individual game total overs and this series total over as well.
Both teams have flexed great goaltending in these playoffs, as well as productive goal scoring. Both teams can play any style of hockey it takes to win whether that means playing a prevention, containment style to smother their opponents, a physical style which intimidates their opponents, or a fast, high scoring style which out-paces their opponents. What will make this series great is being able to witness who brings what style to their opponent first and how that opponent will react. Given the physical nature of these teams and impressive power play units, special teams could play a factor in driving up totals that already will be contributed to by superstar players. Last year, there were 41 goals scored in a 7-game series that had it all. This rematch does not look to deviate much from last year and gives this prop a ton of appeal.
