NHL Morning Skate: Stanley Cup Final Edition – June 5, 2024

June 5, 2024

39

* Nineteen players on the two rosters have Stanley Cup Final experience, including 13 returnees from Florida’s run to the 2023 Final and Edmonton forward Corey Perry who could become the first in League history to represent five franchises in the championship series.

* Carter Verhaeghe and Zach Hyman look to continue their clutch playoff scoring, while Sam Reinhart and the Panthers aim to solve the Oilers’ effective penalty kill which hasn’t yielded a power-play goal in nearly one month.

* Ken Holland and Bill Zito had a hand in acquiring nearly all of the current Edmonton and Florida players with Final experience. The 2024 Stanley Cup Final Information Guide – featuring notes on the matchup including a “How They Were Built” section on pages 8-9 as well as comprehensive statistics, records and trends from both the Final and entire postseason – is now available on the League’s Media site.

VERHAEGHE, TARASENKO, PERRY PACE GROUP OF 19 PLAYERS WITH FINAL EXPERIENCE

The rosters for Florida (13-17—30 in 74 GP) and Edmonton (11-10—21 in 42 GP) feature a combined 24 goals, 51 points and 116 games including 35 wins in the Final but just three previous Stanley Cup winners in Carter Verhaeghe (who won in Edmonton in 2020), Vladimir Tarasenko and Corey Perry.

* Verhaeghe (1-1—2 in 8 GP) and Tarasenko (3-1—4 in 7 GP), who captured a Cup with the 2020 Lightning and 2019 Blues, respectively, have the most games of Final experience among current Florida players. Verhaeghe appeared in three contests against Perry, Mattias Janmark and the Stars during the 2020 Final, while Tarasenko skated in all seven contests versus the Bruins during the 2019 championship series.

* Matthew Tkachuk (2-1—3 in 4 GP) and Brandon Montour (2-2—4 in 5 GP) shared the team lead with two goals in the 2023 Final, while Montour’s four points were tied with Sam Bennett (1-3—4 in 5 GP) for the most among Panthers players. Verhaeghe scored the overtime winner in Game 3 to clinch the franchise’s first-ever victory during the championship series – he is one of 11 active players to tally an overtime goal in the Final, with that group also including Perry who did so versus Verhaeghe in Game 5 of the 2020 championship series.

* Perry (7-6—13 in 22 GP) is one of five current Oilers players to play at least one game in the Final, with the others being Janmark (1-2—3 in 6 GP), Mattias Ekholm (1-2—3 in 6 GP), Adam Henrique (2-0—2 in 6 GP) and Brett Kulak (2 GP). Ekholm appeared in the championship series with the 2017 Predators and Henrique did so with the 2012 Devils, while Kulak and Janmark skated alongside Perry with the 2021 Canadiens and 2020 Stars, respectively.

* Perry is set to make the fifth Final appearance of his NHL career after also skating in the championship series with the 2022 Lightning and 2007 Ducks, which included winning a title with Anaheim. He’ll become the first player in League history to play at least one game in the Final with five different franchises.

SPECIAL TEAMS HAVE BEEN EXACTLY THAT FOR BOTH CLUBS: SPECIAL
Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl leads the League with six power-play goals in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, while teammate Zach Hyman ranks tied for second with five followed by the combination of Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the Panthers duo of Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe with four apiece. Overall, both clubs are having the special-teams success among the best in franchise playoff history.

* Edmonton’s power play is clicking at a 37.3% clip, tops in the NHL this postseason and second-best in franchise playoff history behind only the 46.2% success rate they had in 2023 – which was the best by any team on record (even without a games-played minimum). The Oilers’ penalty-kill rate of 93.9% is the best they have ever had in a postseason (again, no GP minimum needed) and includes an active stretch of 28 consecutive successful penalty kills – their last power-play goal against will have been nearly a month ago by the time of Game 1 on Saturday (last PP GA: Game 3 of R2 on May 12).

* The Oilers can become the first team since the 2011 Lightning to finish the playoffs ranking first in both power-play and penalty-kill percentage (min. 10 GP). Edmonton has 19 power-play goals and have allowed just three against in the 2024 playoffs, good for a +16 differential which only one team on record has maintained through the end of a postseason (2019 Bruins: +16; 24 PP GF, 8 PP GA).

* Florida’s power play has scored on 23.3% of its opportunities, tops in franchise playoff history for years in which they played in more than one round. Their 14 power-play goals are tied for the most in a single postseason in franchise history, equaling the mark set during their run to the 1996 Final. The Panthers’ penalty kill rate of 88.2% trails only the Oilers for tops in the NHL this postseason and also stands as their best in a postseason in which they advanced past the opening round.

* Reinhart tallied 32 goals on special teams during the regular season, including a franchise record-shattering 27 on the power play – the second highest total by an active player behind the 32 tallied by Draisaitl in 2022-23 (who added another 21 in 2023-24 to rank second in the NHL behind Reinhart).

HOLLAND, ZITO HOPE FOR TITLE AFTER CHAMPIONSHIPS IN DETROIT, CLEVELAND
Ken Holland and Bill Zito were named general manager of the Oilers and Panthers, respectively, within the last six years. Holland was at the helm when Edmonton acquired each of its five skaters with experience in the championship series, while Zito was responsible for getting nearly all of the current Florida players who have led the franchise to consecutive Final appearances except Sergei Bobrovsky (signed July 1, 2019), Aaron Ekblad (drafted June 27, 2014) and Aleksander Barkov (drafted June 30, 2013).

* Holland captured Cups as general manager with the 2008, 2002 and 1998 Red Wings and was assistant GM when the club claimed the championship in 1997. He can become the ninth individual with at least four Cups as general manager of an NHL team. That group includes Glen Sather (architect of 1980s Oilers dynasty) and Bill Torrey (first president in Panthers history).

* Zito was an assistant GM for the Blue Jackets across several seasons, with Bobrovsky being a key member of the franchise during that span. Zito’s tenure also involved serving as general manager of the 2016 Lake Erie Monsters when they captured a Calder Cup as AHL champions. He can become the sixth individual with at least one Stanley Cup and Calder Cup as a general manager, joining Keith Allen, Julien BriseBois, Bob Gainey, Serge Savard and Neil Smith.