Morning Coffee: What will it take for the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup?

Congratulations to the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Last night, the Panthers became the third team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions this century.

It’s the 19th time in NHL history that the same team has won the Stanley Cup at least two years in a row.

Head coach Paul Maurice told us it’s the best team he’s ever had, and it certainly looked that way when the Cats clinched with a 5-1 win in Game 6 on home ice.

Sam Reinhart became the second player in NHL history and the first in more than a century to score four goals in a Stanley Cup-clinching victory.

His linemates Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov combined for five assists in another game that Florida never trailed in.

Sticking with NHL records, Sam Bennett made history by scoring the most road goals in a single postseason (13) and led the league with 15 goals overall to earn the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Talk about cashing in ahead of unrestricted free agency.

Then there’s Brad Marchand, who will be remembered as the biggest trade deadline steal in NHL history after nearly averaging a point per game pace with 20 in 23 games on his way to earning his second career ring.

Where will Marchand continue his career next season?

FanDuel already has a Marchand next team novelty market up on-site this morning.

Marchand is one of eight different Panthers that recorded five or more goals in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

11 different players registered double-digit point totals.

Then there’s Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida’s 36-year-old veteran goaltender that held the Edmonton Oilers to two goals or fewer in three of the four Stanley Cup Final wins.

Bobrovsky’s .914 save percentage was the second-best mark in the NHL this postseason behind Logan Thompson of the Washington Capitals.

The Cats were too talented, too experienced, and too deep to be stopped by any NHL opponent.

Only one team managed to even take them the distance in a series.

Nightmare fuel for Leafs Nation.

Oilers Nation didn’t get much sleep last night, either.

It’s been a very long time since a state, or a province, has dominated the NHL the way Florida has since 2020.

Six straight years with a Stanley Cup Final representative.

Back-to-back Stanley Cup wins and four championship parades in the state over a six-year span.

Meanwhile, Canada will have to wait just a little bit longer to see the Stanley Cup return north of the border.

What will it take for the Oilers to win it all?

This is the Morning Coffee for Wednesday June 18th, 2025.

What Will It Take For The Oilers To Win The Stanley Cup?

Any 2026 Stanley Cup conversation should start and end with the two-time defending champions.

It isn’t a major difference, but the Panthers – not the Carolina Hurricanes – should be the betting favourite.

Sure, Florida will lose some key pieces this summer.

Still, Barkov, Reinhart, Verhaeghe and Bobrovsky will all be back next season.

The same goes for Matthew Tkachuk, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Seth Jones, Gustav Forsling, Niko Mikkola, and Dmitry Kulikov.

It also appears Bennett wants to stay in Florida.

I can’t blame him, either.

The Panthers will need to use some of their $19 million in available salary cap space on the pending UFA Bennett.

Whatever is left over, they’ll be able to use to try to bring back Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, and Nate Schmidt.

On the other hand, the Cats could elect to move on from Marchand, Ekblad, and Schmidt and spend the money elsewhere.

In case you missed, here’s what Florida GM Bill Zito told James Duthie and the TSN Hockey panel.

And just in case you forgot, here’s a quick recap of what Zito has done to build the Panthers into a perennial Stanley Cup contender.

Florida has been transformed from a hockey market with record-low attendance numbers into a dynasty where the NHL has the potential to thrive for decades to come.

The Panthers are my Stanley Cup favourite in 2026.

So, how do the Oilers compete with the NHL’s best?

It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that Edmonton went the distance versus Florida in last year’s Stanley Cup Final and was tied 2-2 through four games in this year’s Stanley Cup Final.

At the very highest level, the margin for error is so slim.

The Oilers deserve a ton of credit for getting back to hockey’s biggest stage for the second year in a row.

As frustrating as it is for the fans to accept that they fell just short once again, there’s room for improvement.

There’s also room for a little more luck.

I certainly feel vindicated after I made the case to anybody who would listen that the loss of Zach Hyman was understated.

Sure, I listened when people told me every champion must overcome injuries to win the Stanley Cup.

The problem is that the Panthers didn’t have any injuries of note during the Stanley Cup Final, while Edmonton was hit hard.

The loss of Hyman combined with an injury that nearly kept Ryan Nugent-Hopkins out of the lineup in the Stanley Cup Final had a tremendous impact on the series.

Meanwhile, Tkachuk admitted to feeling as good as he had since he suffered an injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and the Cats seemed to get healthier as the postseason rolled along and they continued to build momentum.

With Hyman and RNH out, the Oilers relied heavily on Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and a 40-year-old Corey Perry to lead the way up front.

McDavid and Draisaitl led the NHL with 26 points each in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Neither one of them registered a point in Game 6.

As impressive as Edmonton’s core players performed throughout the postseason, the drop-off was massive.

Nine different forwards registered at least 15 points for Florida during this year’s Stanley Cup run.

Only three different forwards recorded at least 15 points for Edmonton, and one of them – RNH – was injured in the Stanley Cup Final.

Again, I’m not taking anything away from the players that grinded their way to within two wins of a Stanley Cup.

The reality is that the team they need to beat is deeper, and the Panthers were able to wear down the Oilers best players by locking in on McDavid and Draisaitl in the Stanley Cup Final.

The fact that 97 and 29 were expected to carry Edmonton the way they did is a testament to their brilliance.

There isn’t another pair of NHL teammates that could have done what McDavid and Draisaitl just did.

Maybe it would have been enough if Hyman and RNH didn’t get hurt when it mattered the most.

Maybe it would have been enough if the Panthers weren’t at full strength in the Stanley Cup Final.

And maybe it would have been enough if the Oilers could have won a game 2-1 or 3-2.

At least, that’s what McDavid told us after Game 6.

Edmonton went 7-0 when it held its opponents to two goals or fewer this postseason.

The Oilers went 7-8 when they allowed three or more.

No team in NHL history had ever scored multiple goals in the first period five times in one Stanley Cup Final.

The Panthers scored multiple goals in the first period of all six games.

Florida also scored four or more in five of the six games.

Bobrovsky had a .914 save percentage this postseason.

Edmonton’s goalies combined for an .888 save percentage.

The Oilers were two wins away from a Stanley Cup win over one of the most complete teams in NHL history.

Considering the margin for error is so slim, it’s fair to wonder what could have been with better goaltending.

The Panthers are the back-to-back Stanley Cup champs and the NHL’s gold standard to measure up against looking ahead to next season.

Nobody knows what it will take for Edmonton to win the Stanley Cup better than the players, coaches, and management of the team that just lost to Florida in back-to-back seasons.

I already told you that the Hurricanes won’t win it all.

That leaves the Panthers and Oilers as the top choices to win the Stanley Cup in 2026.