Greg Wyshynskijun 3, 2025, 07:10 PM ET
Closegreg Wyshynski is a senior NHL writer at ESPN.
EDMONTON, Alberta – Matthew Tokachuk says he believes the reigning champion Florida Panthers are underdogs in the final Stanley Cup rematch with the Edmonton Oilers.
“Absolutely. We’ll continue to ride that underdog role. We’ve got it so far,” the Panthers winger told Media Day Tuesday.
The Oilers finished with 101 points in the regular season. They secured a home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup final, which begins Wednesday night, as they are three points more than the Panthers (98) in the Eastern Conference. Florida defeated Edmonton in the Stanley Cup in seven games in their final postseason after taking a 3-0 series lead.
However, it didn’t earn his favourite status in this rematch. Most experts predict that superstar Conor McDavid will be lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time. ESPN BET has the Oilers as a favorite of -130 to win the Cup.
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“They have earned the right to have home ice. They have a better regular season than us, so we start here in Edmonton,” Tkachuk said. “It’s not something we’ve new. We started the roads in each round in these playoffs, hopefully we can use it. [experience] For our profits. ”
This is the Panthers’ third straight trip to the Stanley Cup final, losing to Vegas in 2023 and winning the Cup in 2024. When asked how Florida was motivated by its success, Tkachuk laughed.
“I mean, the Stanley Cup. It’s the most motivated thing in the sport,” said Tkachuk, who scored 16 points in 17 playoff games this season. “We’re not happy to go to the finals. We want to be the 2017 Championship Caliber team.”
His coach, Paul Maurice, agreed to realize that the Panthers were happy to beat the Oilers last season.
“I couldn’t make a very clearer experience from last year. [winning]and that happens and you have this incredible experience with your group that you care so much. And they’ll come back next year and you say, “God, I want to do it again.” That’s really great,” he said.
For Tkachuk, one measure of the Panthers’ success is how South Florida transformed into a hotbed of hockey.
“The kind of hockey has turned into the number one sport there, and it was fun being part of it,” he said. “To see how my progress has been with the game and fanbase and Lynx, and what the new practice rinks in Fort Lauderdale and South Florida have done, is continuing to grow.”
To explain the points, Tkachuk spoke about his story from the time it was traded by the Panthers in 2022.
“I was picking up dinner where I was staying at the hotel. I remember someone asking what I did for work: ‘Oh, I’m playing hockey.’ “Hockey? In Florida? You have to smoke,” he said. “It’s definitely changed ever since.”
