Florida won the Cup. Again. Now what?

Jesse Campigotto · CBC Sports

· Posted: Jun 18, 2025 4:26 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

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The Florida Panthers repeated arsenic Stanley Cup champions past night, destroying the dispirited Edmonton Oilers 5-1 connected location crystal to finish disconnected their rematch in six games.

The Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP went to Florida's Sam Bennett, who led each playoff scorers with 15 goals, including a grounds 13 connected the road. Matthew Tkachuk scored the 2nd extremity past nighttime to necktie Bennett for the squad pb successful points with 23, past revealed that helium played with a torn adductor musculus and a sports hernia suffered portion competing for the United States astatine the 4 Nations Face-Off successful February.

WATCH | Panthers bushed Oilers successful Game 6 to triumph back-to-back Stanley Cups:

The Panthers are conscionable the 10th squad successful NHL past to repetition arsenic Stanley Cup champions, but the 3rd to bash it successful the past 10 years, joining Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay.

On the different side, the Oilers are the archetypal squad to suffer back-to-back Cup finals since Don Cherry's Boston Bruins fell to Montreal successful 1977 and '78. And, we person to bring it up 1 past time: Canada's Stanley Cup drought volition present scope 33 years.

A fewer thoughts to wrapper up the series:

* So overmuch for that "classic" Cup last we thought we were witnessing arsenic the Oilers won the opener successful overtime and the Panthers took Game 2 successful treble OT, with Edmonton superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl combining for 9 points successful those contests. Florida's different 3 wins were each blowouts (aggregate score: 16-4), portion McDavid had conscionable 2 points implicit the last 4 games and finished with 1 extremity successful the series.

* Speaking of McDavid, helium remains the champion subordinate successful NHL past to person ne'er won the Stanley Cup. With apologies to 700-goal scorers Marcel Dionne and Mike Gartner, 1,500-point antheral Joe Thornton, Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla and whichever idiosyncratic favourite you privation to propulsion successful here, the 28-year-old McDavid has already won 5 Art Ross Trophies, 3 Harts and a Conn Smythe. Except for Alex Ovechkin, who won his lone title successful 2018, each different subordinate with 3 oregon much regular-season MVP awards has hoisted the Cup astatine slightest twice.

WATCH | Oilers fans respond pursuing decision successful Game 6 of Stanley Cup final:

* After 10 seasons successful the league, it feels similar McDavid ought to person a ring. Gretzky won his archetypal Cup successful his 5th NHL season, and Mario Lemieux broke done successful his seventh. But sometimes it conscionable takes a small longer: Steve Yzerman waited 14 years, Ovechkin 13, and Ray Bourque famously didn't triumph 1 until his 22nd and last season. McDavid volition get his astatine immoderate point. Right?

* The Corey Perry Curse continues. Despite matching his vocation precocious with 10 goals successful the playoffs, the 40-year-old Oilers guardant mislaid his 5th Cup last (with 4 antithetic teams) successful the past six years. Perry won a ringing with Anaheim backmost successful 2007 (his 2nd twelvemonth successful the league) and added a Hart Trophy successful 2011, truthful he's beauteous overmuch done it all. With his humble one-year, $1.15-million US declaration astir to expire, it'll beryllium absorbing to spot if helium returns (to Edmonton oregon elsewhere) for different footwear astatine the can.

* Not to spell each sports-radio-segment connected you, but yes, the Panthers are a dynasty. They've won 2 consecutive Cups, reached 3 consecutive finals, and the twelvemonth earlier that they captured the Presidents' Trophy. Sure, it's not rather connected par with the early-'80s Islanders winning 4 Cups successful a enactment oregon Gretzky's Oilers grabbing 4 successful 5 years. But the Panthers' four-year tally is astir arsenic bully arsenic it gets successful the salary-cap era.

WATCH | McDavid reacts pursuing 2nd consecutive Cup last decision to Panthers:

What's adjacent successful the NHL

The draught is coming up connected June 27 and 28 successful Los Angeles, wherever the Islanders person the apical prime aft overcoming their 3.5 per cent likelihood to triumph past month's lottery. Defenceman Matthew Schaefer of the OHL's Erie Otters is the top-rated imaginable contempt his play being chopped abbreviated by a breached collarbone portion playing for Canada astatine the satellite inferior title successful December. Here's a mock draft from NHL.com showing wherever the different apical prospects mightiness go.

Free bureau opens connected July 1. Mitch Marner's seemingly imminent divided with the Maple Leafs is getting each the press, and he's wide considered the apical subordinate connected the market. But the NHL is simply a copy-cat league (aren't they all?) and an casual mode to effort and replicate the Panthers' gritty marque of occurrence is by poaching their cardinal players. Florida's pending UFAs see the Conn Smythe Trophy-winning Bennett, apical defenceman Aaron Ekblad and the incomparable Brad Marchand, who scored 10 goals successful the playoffs — including six successful the final — aft being acquired from Boston astatine the commercialized deadline. 

Other notables disposable see Toronto's John Tavares, Winnipeg's Nikolaj Ehlers and Vancouver's Brock Boeser. Here's a look astatine the apical 12 escaped agents from Sportsnet.

The 2025-26 play opens connected Oct. 7, and the archetypal fractional volition surely revolve astir who gets picked to play successful the Winter Olympics successful Italy successful February. All 12 teams successful the men's tourney announced their initial six players on Monday, with Canada naming McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Cale Makar and, presciently, Reinhart. The rival United States chose Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Charlie McAvoy and Quinn Hughes.

After those incredibly aggravated and entertaining Canada-U.S clashes astatine the 4 Nations Face-Off, which ended with McDavid's overtime extremity to bushed the Americans successful the final, there's definite to beryllium plentifulness of excitement astir the archetypal Olympic hockey tourney with NHL players since 2014. And (maybe depending connected the authorities of Canada-U.S. relations this winter) the golden medal mightiness adjacent surpass the Stanley Cup arsenic the biggest prize of the 2025-26 hockey season.