The 2024 Stanley Cup Final is shaping up to be a box office hit.
Not only does it feature two of the NHL’s strongest teams this season, but the storyline is just as dramatic.
On one side of this matchup, Connor McDavid is looking to win his first Stanley Cup and cement his legacy, while on the other side, the Florida Panthers, who lost in five games to the Las Vegas Golden Knights last spring, are looking to win their first championship in franchise history.
What makes it even more intriguing is the fact that the betting market struggles to distinguish between the two clubs.
The Panthers are currently listed at -128 odds to win the Stanley Cup on FanDuel, while the Oilers are currently listed at +106. Rarely have the odds been this close in the Stanley Cup Finals.
There’s plenty of time left to evaluate the matchup, but for now we’ll focus on some predictions worth keeping an eye on ahead of Game 1 on Saturday night.
Connor McDavid to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (+250, FanDuel)
This one is pretty simple: If the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, Connor McDavid will almost certainly win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
McDavid, who led the playoffs with 31 points, would likely deserve the award based on his performance, but this is a media-voted award and given his career so far, it’s hard to imagine the media passing up the opportunity to give McDavid his best moment.
So, if you’re interested in backing the Oilers at +106, I would highly recommend giving up that number and betting on McDavid winning the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Most goals scored in the series: Anton Lundell (55/1, DraftKings)
There were many big moments in Florida’s win over the Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals, but perhaps the most overlooked was when Paul Maurice removed Vladimir Tarasenko from the first line and placed him on the third unit with Anton Randle and Eetu Luostarinen.
The trio continued to play well, with Randle scoring the game-winning goal in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden and Tarasenko scoring the series-winning goal in Game 6.
Randle is already known as a two-way monster at just 22 years old, but I imagine Maurice will match up as much as he can against Aleksander Barkov and McDavid’s line, as well as Matthew Tkachuk and Leon Draisaitl, in this series.
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That would put Lundell up against the Oilers’ bottom six, which should be a big advantage for the Panthers.
There are a lot of talented scorers in this series (Zach Hyman, Draisaitel, McDavid, Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, etc.), so a landslide victory is unlikely. Instead, the points will be spread among these stars, keeping the number of goals needed to win this ticket relatively low.
If so, it would be nice to buy a ticket for a player with the potential and usage rate of Rundell at this price.
