2025 NHL Stanley Cup Predictions and Series Pick for Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers

by Ryan Cobbett - 6/4/2025

NHL Stanley Cup predictions Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers

For the second straight season, the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers will square off in the Stanley Cup Finals. Florida and Edmonton both gave their Conference Finals opponents a Gentleman’s Sweep as both teams won the series in just five games. Florida has gone 8-2 since losing their first two games against Toronto in the second round while the Oilers are 12-2 since losing the first two games against Los Angeles back in the first round. Edmonton will have home ice for the seven-game set as they look to avenge themselves from last year’s Stanley Cup Finals loss to Florida.

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Team Summaries

The Edmonton Oilers have dominated the opposition in route to the Finals. They have gone 12-2 and have not lost back-to-back games since the series against the Kings. The Oilers have scored 38 goals over their last 10 games, but the biggest surprise and perhaps reason for their run is the turn around Stuart Skinner has made. The Oilers lead all playoff teams in scoring as they are averaging 4.06 GF/G through 16 playoff games while also cashing in on 30% of their mad advantage opportunities. One glaring weakness that has plagued this team is their poor penalty kill. Edmonton has killed off just 66% of their opponent’s power play chances. Skinner has made an incredible resurgence this postseason and the Oilers are allowing just 2.81 GA/G. Connor McDavid (26) and Leon Draisaitl (25) lead all postseason players in points while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is fourth with 18. Corey Perry and Evander Kane have also made their presence felt during the run and it will be key for them to continue to produce now that Zach Hyman is unavailable for the Finals. Perry and Draisaitl are tied for the team lead with seven goals. Though Hyman is out, the team did welcome Matthias Ekholm back to the ice and his presence will have a huge impact in this round.

As for the Panthers, they have looked like a scary team since losing their first two games in Toronto back in the second round. They haven’t lost a road game since and are 8-2 over their last 10. Florida finished the series against Carolina with a +11-goal differential and completely dominated the Hurricanes. The Panthers are averaging 3.88 GF/G which is third amongst the initial 16 playoff teams. They have not been as dominant as they would like to be on the power play, with just a 23.2 PP%, but they have been incredible on the kill as they have recorded an 87.9% PK% which is the best mark in the playoffs. Sergei Bobrovsky had a great Conference Final round as Carolina never scored more than three goals. The Panthers have had their depth show up in a big way this postseason. Aleksander Barkov leads the team in scoring with 17 points, but they have 10 players who have double-digit points compared to Edmonton’s seven. Sam Bennett is the leading goal scorer this postseason as he has 10 over 17 games. Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe are tied for second with six goals while Matthew Tkachuk and Anton Lundell are tied for third on the team with five goals.

Goalie Matchup

Skinner has been incredible to watch over the last two weeks. He shut down one of the deepest offensive teams in the NHL after holding the Stars to just five goals over the final four games of the Conference Final round. Over his last three starts on home ice, Skinner has allowed just two goals. In his lone start against the Florida Panthers, he allowed four goals on 36 shot attempts and picked up the loss.

Bobrovsky continues to dominate despite aging. He has allowed just 12 goals over his last nine games, and he has recorded two shutouts in this span. Bobrovsky has allowed just 2.11 GA/G and has a .912 SV% this postseason. He has allowed more than three goals in just four of his 17 starts this postseason. Bobrovsky is 2-0 against Edmonton so far this season, but he has allowed eight goals in those two games.

Skaters to Watch

Edmonton Oilers:

McDavid has recorded at least one point in each of his last five games and in all but two of his 16 playoff games this postseason.
Despite tallying just two goals, Draisaitl had nine points in five games against Dallas in the Western Conference Final.
Despite averaging less than 14 minutes on the ice per game, Perry is tied for the team lead with seven goals and he has recorded a goal in each of his last two games.

Florida Panthers:

Barkov has recorded a point in five of his last six games, totaling nine points over that span with three goals and six assists.
Bennett has not gone more than two games without a goal during this postseason and his 10 goals lead all players in the playoffs.
Brad Marchand has proven to be an incredible pickup for Florida as he has 14 points in 17 playoff games as he is one of four Panthers players to record 10 or more assists.

Series Pick

Here we go. We had a long season that ended up with a rematch of last years incredible Stanley Cup Finals matchup that went the distance. Edmonton dug themselves out of a huge hole to force a Game 7, but their efforts came up just short of glory. That will be the first thing on Edmonton’s mind as the series gets underway, win early. Both teams are riding tremendous waves of momentum into the Finals round as they both breezed through the Conference Finals. Skinner has rebounded from being benched to looking like an elite netminder while the Panthers have a deep roster that has been absolutely relentless all postseason. Matchup wise, the Oilers play fast while the Panthers want to hit hard and often and slow the game down. Whoever establishes the pace of play will win the series. Edmonton has magic in their skates this season. McDavid and Draisaitl will get their hands on the Stanley Cup in a hard-fought series that will tilt Edmonton’s way. They have a lot of explosive playmakers, and they are fast. Skinner will need to hold up, but Florida’s offense isn’t as good as what he just faced against the Stars. Give me Edmonton to put Florida in a hole early this time around and win this series in six.

My Pick: Edmonton Oilers to Win: -125, Series Total Games: Over 5.5 -210, Series Exact Games: 6 Games +200

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Start:	June 10, 2025 @ 10:00 PM
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2025 NHL Stanley Cup Predictions and Series Pick for Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers

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