Why the Florida Panthers will win the Stanley Cup (again) - ESPN

I want to see Connor McDavid raise the Stanley Cup.

I want to see all that regular-season hardware — five scoring titles, three Hart trophies as league MVP, the four-time NHLPA most outstanding player — metaphorically traded for a Stanley Cup ring, like when you turn in smaller prizes for a larger one during a carnival game. I want him rewarded for his 10 years of trying to will the Edmonton Oilers to their first Stanley Cup since 1990. Those fans deserve another party, with McDavid as the master of ceremonies.

I want to see him permanently overwrite those images of himself as an empty husk after Game 7 last season, his soul seemingly drained from his body by a series so emotionally erratic that he was voted the playoffs' most valuable player moments after losing in the championship finale.

I want to see the laziest counterargument to McDavid's status as a hockey deity — that he «never won the Cup» — rendered immaterial, as it eventually was for players such as Alex Ovechkin and Nathan MacKinnon. I want that cathartic scream when he picks up the chalice for the first time. The king deserves his crowning moment.

Unfortunately, what I want and what the Florida Panthers are willing to give McDavid aren't at all aligned. They deprived him of his Stanley Cup win last season. They've going to do it again in this Stanley Cup Final rematch, despite the sportsbooks and the majority of pundits believing that it's McDavid's moment.

Here are five reasons the Panthers are likely headed for a repeat:

It's undeniable that the Oilers are a better team than they were last season.

Edmonton's roster is deeper and more cohesive than the 2024 Western Conference champions. They're scoring more (4.06 goals per game) than last season. Their