The Stanley Cup Final is the single most wagered-on hockey series in the world, and oddsmakers are going to have to make their lines sharper than a kitchen knife with all that money coming in. The 2024 Stanley Cup pits the pesky Florida Panthers against the Edmonton Oilers. Should the fact that no Canadian team has won the Cup since 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens took home the hardware influence your betting? Of course it should.
But, How Did They get Here?
The Panthers weren’t the best team in the Eastern Division this year. That honor went to the New York Rangers, who scuttled that advantage when the Panthers beat them.
As for Edmonton, having two of the most dynamic players in the league—Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl—hasn’t meant much. It’s the first appearance in the Cup finals in McDavid’s 9-year career and the scoring machine that is Draisaitl will finally be tested at the ultimate level. The road to the finals wasn’t easy for Edmonton. They started the season in a horrible fashion, going 2-9-1 before firing head coach Jay Woodcroft and bringing in Kris Knoblauch to take over along with Hall of Famer Paul Coffey as an assistant. The team caught fire under Knoblauch, at one point winning 16 straight games, one shy of the record for the NHL. In the first round, the Oilers trailed the top seeded Vancouver Canucks three games to two, but stormed back to win games 6 and 7.
In the playoffs, the Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Boston Bruins and the Rangers to reach the final for the second consecutive year, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in 2023. They dominated those teams, never playing an elimination game, so how do you rate that experience in the finals? They’re entering the finals as the favorite, but with the firepower of the Oilers nothing is a sure bet.
2024 Stanley Cup Odds
Edmonton Oilers (+115)
Florida Panthers (-135)
How about betting for the total games in the series? Don’t worry about the winner, just focus on how long you think the series will extend.
Series Total Games (O/U)
Edmonton Oilers vs. Florida Panthers:
5.5 games (O -190, U +160)
6.5 games (O +200, U -240)
But if you want to shoot for a big payoff, why not go for the exact results and get the money?
Series Exact Result
Edmonton Oilers 4-0 (+1300)
Edmonton Oilers 4-1 (+750)
Edmonton Oilers 4-2 (+450)
Edmonton Oilers 4-3 (+500)
Florida Panthers 4-0 (+1100)
Florida Panthers 4-1 (+500)
Florida Panthers 4-2 (+500)
Florida Panthers 4-3 (+425)
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Who Wins MVP Honors?
And finally, who will be the series MVP, which, like all NHL awards, is given a trophy named after someone, in this case a former owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Conn Smythe.
Odds to win Conn Smythe Trophy
Connor McDavid, Oilers, +200
Aleksander Barkov, Panthers, +400
Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers, +400
Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers, +600
Leon Draisaitl, Oilers, +650
Evan Bouchard, Oilers, +700
Carter Verhaeghe, Panthers, 20-1
Sam Reinhart, Panthers, 40-1
Stuart Skinner, Oilers, 60-1
Zach Hyman, Oilers, 75-1
Brandon Montour, Panthers, 400-1
Vladimir Tarasenko, Panthers, 400-1
So buckle up, hockey fans. The Cup finals are usually a wild affair, and the celebration afterwards is one of the best in all sports. Last year’s parade on the Las Vegas Strip, however, will be hard to beat.
