2024-25 Stanley Cup Final odds: Oilers, Panthers priced as coin flip
The 2024-25 NHL season will end in the same way as it did in 2023-24, with the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers meeting in the Stanley Cup Final.Last year’s showpiece was a classic, as the Panthers won a seven-game thriller after blowing a 3-0 series lead, and the odds are suggesting that this year’s Final could be just as dramatic.The Oilers, who have home-ice advantage, are the slightest of favorites (-120) at BetMGM Sportsbook.The Cats are priced as even-money underdogs.In other words: Flip a coin.No team has it easy to get to the Stanley Cup Final, but the Oilers have made it look that way this spring. Edmonton is 12-4 with a plus-20 (65 GF, 45 GA) in the playoffs so far, and the Oilers have gone 12-2 since dropping the first two games of the postseason. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have been the two best players in the postseason so far, with a combined 51 points, but Edmonton’s defensive play has been the difference-maker.The Oilers have allowed just 33 goals over their last 14 games and have conceded one goal or fewer in six of those contests.It’s a remarkable turnaround from a team that was written off after Game 2 of Round 1 against the Los Angeles Kings.Edmonton isn’t the only juggernaut in this series, however.The Panthers may not have the same hype behind them as the Oilers going into the Stanley Cup Final, but they’ve been just as impressive.Florida dispatched the trendy Tampa Bay Lightning in five games, then erased a 2-0 series deficit against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 2.
The Cats then put together a gentleman’s sweep against the Carolina Hurricanes to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the third year running. The Panthers are 12-5 with a playoff-best plus-27 goal difference, and have allowed just 39 goals in 17 games. Florida doesn’t have the dynamic 1-2 punch that Edmonton has with McDavid and Draisaitl, but the Panthers are incredibly deep.Ten different Panthers have at least 11 points this postsea...