Morning Coffee: Panthers, Oilers co-favourites to win Stanley Cup at FanDuel

Condolences to Leafs Nation.

This isn’t their first Stanley Cup Playoff heartbreak, but this one might just hurt a little more than all the others.

The latest Toronto Maple Leafs playoff collapse reminded me of when The Sopranos ended.

Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ was blaring, excitement was building, we finally believed that a happy ending was possible, then suddenly it was all over.

Cut to black.

No closure, no ultimate payoff, just an entire fanbase wondering what went wrong and whether this is really the way it had to end after years of anticipation.

There would be no grand parade.

No happily ever after.

And for the Blue and White, there’s no guarantee that the Core Four will return intact next season.

Leafs Nation has been forced to endure one tough beat after another in recent years.

This latest heartbreak is rewriting their threshold for pain tolerance.

Maybe it’s true that Leafs Nation will deny there can be a silver lining to Toronto’s latest collapse – I get that.

Still, if I was going to point to any reason for hope, it would be this.

The Maple Leafs just went the distance in a seven-game series against the defending Stanley Cup champions and the co-favourites to repeat this season.

And they did it with several key contributors either playing through injury or, in the case of their No. 1 goalie Anthony Stolarz, sidelined by one.

The Florida Panthers are headed back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third year in a row.

The fact that Toronto that nearly had them on the ropes in Game 3, then forced the series to go seven games, is certainly worthy of some level of admiration.

Still, I get the bottom line for this fanbase.

After all, it’s been the same old story for too long.

The Maple Leafs have lost four straight Game 7s in the Core Four era, and that leadership group was just blanked in a lopsided 6-1 loss in a winner-take-all finale that got so ugly the home fans threw their jerseys on the ice.

So, what’s next?

Surely, Leafs Nation will turn to social media and message boards to voice their opinions on what needs to happen for the franchise to take the next step in the postseason.

At least, unlike The Sopranos, there is hope for better days in Toronto following another early playoff exit.

Hold on to that feeling, Leafs Nation.

After all, I’m not sure any team can beat the Panthers.

As it turns out, the FanDuel traders agree with me.

This is the Morning Coffee for Monday May 19th, 2025.

Panthers, Oilers Co-Favourites To Win Stanley Cup At FanDuel

The Panthers were the biggest favourite to advance of any of the teams that qualified for the second round.

To win the series, they needed to do something they’ve never done before.

With a win in Game 7, Florida rallied from down 2-0 to win a series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

The Panthers were 0-5 all-time in that scenario.

Ultimately, it came down to one game to decide their date, and once again Florida found a way to get it done.

Paul Maurice improved to 6-0 all-time in Game 7s.

He’s one of two head coaches in NHL history to win each of their first six Game 7s, following current Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer, who is 9-0 all-time in Game 7.

Brad Marchand improved to 5-0 all-time in Game 7s versus Toronto.

He’s the first player in NHL history to beat one franchise at least five times in winner-take-all games.

Florida is just the third team in NHL history to win each of its first three road Game 7s.

With a victory last night, the Panthers re-emerged as a co-favourite to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel along with the Edmonton Oilers at +240 odds.

Florida opened -130 to win the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Canes are +105 to pull off the series upset.

Meanwhile, the Oilers are a slight favourite against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals at -118.

Interestingly, the Stars are a -125 favourite to win Game 1 on home ice but the slight underdog to advance at -102.

Dallas is the third choice to win the Stanley Cup at +270.

Carolina has the longest odds to win it all at +310.

At the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I predicted that the Panthers would repeat as champions against the winner of the first round series between the Stars and the Colorado Avalanche.

One month later, I’m not convinced that Dallas will fare any better in a Western Conference Finals rematch than last year when Edmonton eliminated them in six. 

With a couple of days between the end of the second round and the start of the conference finals, we’ll have plenty of time for series predictions and analysis.

However, I can confirm this morning that I’m back on Florida to win the Eastern Conference Finals at -126.

Hopefully, we can lock in a few more winners and enter the Stanley Cup Finals on a high note.

Happy Victoria Day, Canada!