It’s been 32 years since a Canadian team last won the Stanley Cup, and it’s possible that drought is coming to a close this year. The Edmonton Oilers are favored to win the Stanley Cup on BetMGM before the conference finals start on Tuesday.
The Oilers are +240 to lift the Cup, just a tick ahead of the defending champion Florida Panthers at +250. Those two teams met in the Stanley Cup Final last year, and the odds are saying a rematch is realistic. The last time a Stanley Cup Final was a rematch from the year before was in 2009, when the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings after the Red Wings beat the Penguins in 2008.
While Edmonton and Florida are technically favored to advance, the overall futures odds are barely more telling than a shrug emoji. The Dallas Stars have +275 odds to win the title, and the Carolina Hurricanes are the long shot, in relative standing only, at +300. That means all four teams have implied odds to lift the Cup between 25 and 30 percent. It doesn’t get much closer than that.
2025 Stanley Cup winner odds
Edmonton has the longest Cup drought of the four teams, but is the only franchise of the four to have won it multiple times. The Oilers haven’t won since 1990, which was Edmonton’s fifth title in seven years and the only one without Wayne Gretzky. Carolina’s Cup win came in 2006, and Dallas’ was in 1999. Last year, Florida won the Cup for the first time in its 31st season.
Given how closely bunched the four teams are in their odds to win the Stanley Cup, it’s no surprise the conference finals are virtual toss-ups as well. In the Eastern Conference final, Florida is -125 while Carolina is barely plus-money at +105. It’s even closer in the Western Conference final, where Edmonton is -120 against Dallas, which is even money.
Connor McDavid favored for Conn Smythe Trophy
With the Oilers favored to win the Stanley Cup, even by the slimmest of margins, Connor McDavid is favored to be the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the playoffs. McDavid is, of course, the biggest name of the four teams still playing and is +350 to win the award.
Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen (+400), Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen (+550) and Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (+800) are next in the odds.
Rantanen has a playoff-leading 19 points through two rounds. McDavid is just behind him with 17. Edmonton teammate Leon Draisaitl has 16 points and is +1100 to win the Conn Smythe, but it seems it would be tough for him to overcome the narrative around McDavid winning his first Cup and ending Canada’s drought in the process.
Andersen leads the playoffs with a 1.36 goals against average and is tops in save percentage (.937).
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(Photo of Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)