- 6/20/2025
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00:00And it's time to put a bow on this bad boy.
00:02It's Donnie right side, and it's Joe Ranieri.
00:04And now we welcome in Chris Meaney, NHL.com's finest year, our NHL expert.
00:08The season is over, but boy, what a season it was, Chris.
00:12Yeah, thanks for having me, guys.
00:14Happy Friday.
00:14It was a fantastic season.
00:16Selfishly, I wanted to see seven games because, as you guys alluded to in the NBA,
00:20there's nothing better than a seventh game to win absolutely everything.
00:23So just really impressed by the Florida Panthers.
00:26And I know a lot of dynasty talk when it comes to the Panthers.
00:28But this was a team that was loaded, three lines deep for sure.
00:33Paul Maurice, some audio released this week about him putting the fourth line on
00:38in the final shift, right?
00:40Got them there, passed the Maple Leafs.
00:41So a very deep team, 10 road wins tied for an NHL record.
00:46They were actually not underdogs in every series,
00:49but they started on the road in every series.
00:51They had six players, at least 20 points.
00:53That was tied for first with the 85 Oilers and the 83 Islanders,
00:56plus 39 goal differential.
00:57This was a loaded team back-to-back.
01:00So we'll be talking about them, the quest for the three-peat.
01:04It's pretty impressive the way you break it down, too,
01:06because certainly not a strong bet of hockey over the past 20 to 30 years in Florida.
01:11Now it's starting to change there.
01:12We have multiple cups between Tampa and now Florida.
01:15And it's a combination of get your draft picks in there,
01:18make shrewd free agent decisions, hire a really good head coach,
01:22and there you go, three straight cup runs.
01:23But this Stanley Cup final looked like it was unbelievable to start here.
01:27The first four games, three of those in overtime,
01:30and then it just felt like the Florida Panthers starting to turn that vice grip.
01:34What did you get out of the series?
01:35And maybe what were some of the changes that Florida made to really say,
01:38you know what, we're going to hold down that high-powered offense.
01:41We are the better club here.
01:42Yeah, something that I was looking at heading into this series
01:46is how much did the Edmonton Oilers learn from last year being down 3-0,
01:50coming back, you know, there was some similarities there between McDavid
01:54and, say, history with Gretzky in his first cup, losing,
01:58getting the same team the next year, winning.
02:00Same thing with Sidney Crosby.
02:01Could McDavid get over that hump as well?
02:02But also, on the flip side, what did the Florida Panthers learn
02:06from that series being up early and then letting Edmonton back in it?
02:09Something that I really noticed is the dominance,
02:12the way that they started the hockey games, from games 3-6,
02:169-0 was the score for the Florida Panthers in the first period of those games.
02:21They outshot them, in terms of shot attempts, 95-53.
02:24So they got up early, they had the pedal down,
02:27and they didn't let Edmonton back into those games.
02:29And I mentioned how deep this team was offensively,
02:32the third line with Marchand, Luce Duran, and Lindell,
02:35among the leaders in road points and 5-5 points,
02:37to get nearly 60 points from your third line and 40-plus on the road is spectacular.
02:43But how about the defense?
02:44I mentioned the plus 39 goal differential,
02:46and certainly Borowski was fantastic when he needed to be.
02:50But shout-out to Alexander Barkov.
02:52Gustav Forsling is one of the better defensive defensemen in the league.
02:56McDavid, one goal, two points at 5-5.
02:59Austin Matthews in the series, one goal.
03:02Nikita Kucherov, zero goals.
03:04So you go back to last year's playoff against the Lightning, zero goals in two series.
03:08So this team is talked about offensively, what they can bring to the table.
03:12I mentioned those six players with 20-plus points throughout the playoffs.
03:15But also defensively, just locking players down.
03:19They played just a perfect brand of hockey.
03:22They were opportunistic on the power play.
03:24They killed penalties.
03:25They're relentless on the forecheck.
03:27It's a very impressive squad.
03:30They have the cap space over the next couple of years to bring back Sam Bennett,
03:33maybe bring back Aaron Ekblad, potentially Brad Marchand on the cheap if he wants to go
03:37for another cup, his third of his career, and would be three in a row for the Panthers.
03:42So very impressive.
03:44And what you mentioned to me as well with the trades, this is a team that made a lot of trades.
03:50Like, sure, they drafted Barkov, but they traded for Reinhardt.
03:52They traded for Verhage.
03:54They traded for Seth Jones and Brad Marchand.
03:57They made a lot of – Matthew Kachuk turned the franchise around.
04:00That was a massive trade.
04:02And then you mentioned the hiring there of Paul Maurice.
04:04So credit to Zito and company.
04:06They made a lot of moves.
04:08That paid off because typically, you know, you're seeing teams try to spend through free agency,
04:13but they did it a different way.
04:14And, like, they're in the dynasty conversation at least.
04:17Well, they – and especially in a salary cap, Eric, Chris, because – and I think it's important
04:24to note that in order to be able to build a team like this, you better nail your top draft picks.
04:31Ekblad was number one.
04:33Barkov was number two in 20 – Lundell, I think, was number 12 in 2020.
04:38You make all those free agency moves, but you don't overpay for anybody.
04:42And nobody wanted Seth Jones.
04:45Like, Marchand was supposed to stick a fork in him.
04:47So it has to start from the top.
04:50And this organization from when they first got into the league to now with this ownership group
04:55and Zito, who exactly is going to lure anybody away from Florida here come this offseason?
05:03Yeah, I mean, that's the thing.
05:05I'm sure, like, if Sam Bennett gets to July 1st, free agency opens up,
05:09there's going to be a lot of teams calling him.
05:11And, you know, I don't want to speculate, but I'm sure he could flirt with $10 million per year
05:14on the open market.
05:16Maybe he comes in just under that with the Florida Panthers.
05:19And Ekblad was a big piece as well.
05:21So you're right.
05:22They have to nail the draft picks.
05:24But, you know, the trades and the additions that they made, even Forsling,
05:27a waiver-wire pickup, right?
05:28That may be on the rest of the league overlooking him.
05:31But just a fantastic move by the front office to bring him in.
05:36And he doesn't get enough credit.
05:38Again, offensively – and what they did at the Oilers,
05:40they led for 255 minutes, the most ever in a Stanley Cup final.
05:44So they were just dominant start to finish.
05:46And I do believe that Sam Bennett is going to remain a Florida Panther.
05:50If you were following some of the videos on Instagram last night,
05:54he did – he kind of dropped the mic last night, said he wasn't going anywhere.
05:58We'll see if that does happen.
05:59But how could you not bring him back?
06:02And he set an NHL record for the most goals in the Stanley Cup playoff run as well
06:06with 13 on the road and the Conn Smythe winner there.
06:10So it's – and it's another guy that they just acquired, right?
06:14They bought low on Sam Bennett.
06:16So very impressive run.
06:17And we'll see what happens, right?
06:19Tampa had the back-to-back in 2020 and 2021.
06:22Pittsburgh back-to-back in 2017, 18.
06:24Chicago, three in six years.
06:25Detroit, three in six years.
06:27I believe that you need to win three in a row or three in five.
06:30I think the last true dynasty was Edmonton, five in seven years, from 83 to 89.
06:34The Adventers, four straight in the early 80s.
06:36The Habs, four straight in the late 70s.
06:38Montreal actually won six of nine in the 70s and went on a 10 of 15 run.
06:42But there's a lot more teams in the league now.
06:44But I do believe that this team is going to be fully back pretty much.
06:48And I think that they're certainly going to be the team to beat over the next couple of years.
06:51Yes, Joe pointed out the Sally Cap era to have a run like this is incredible.
06:55We'll see if it continues.
06:56But I want to ask Chris about Connor McDavid coming up next.
06:59What an NHL season it was.
07:01And certainly the Edmonton Oilers are going to look back on this one and say,
07:04man, back-to-back Stanley Cup finals.
07:05We weren't able to get it done.
07:06We went seven games the first year, six games the second year.
07:10We should be back and hope to be back in the future.
07:12But that's never a given here.
07:14And let's take a look here, Chris Meany.
07:15And I want to talk about Connor McDavid.
07:17You know what the thing that pops up amazing to me is?
07:19He's already played 10 seasons in the NHL.
07:21Like, I'm like, oh, what's he?
07:22Year four, year five, year six.
07:24Already 10.
07:24One of the most dominant players you're going to see.
07:26But without a Stanley Cup.
07:28361 goals.
07:29721.
07:30It says three-time Hart Trophy winner here.
07:32So my question to you is, what's next with Connor McDavid?
07:35But also, more importantly, what's next with him and the Edmonton Oilers moving forward?
07:41Yeah, it's a big storyline in the offseason.
07:43Connor McDavid has one year left in his deal.
07:45And you heard him yesterday in the post-game conference for the Oilers saying there's really no rush for McDavid to sign an extension, you know, come July 1st.
07:56The Edmonton Oilers have a big offseason here, right?
07:59You alluded.
08:00We all know they've been in the Stanley Cup finals and back-to-back years.
08:02So close, as close as you can get and certainly gut-wrenching not to win one of those and this time around not to get it done.
08:09But you look at the Oilers roster and there's a lot of players here that are on one year, like one year left.
08:15Like Evander Kane, Victor Harvinson, Matias Ekholm, Stuart Skinner.
08:20They have Evan Bouchard, who's a restricted free agent they need to sign.
08:23There's some numbers floating around.
08:25He could get up to $10 million.
08:27McDavid already makes $12 million.
08:28And then Drysett will sign that contract a couple years ago at $14 million.
08:31So you're looking at maybe those three players, maybe $40 million.
08:36That's a big chunk of your salary.
08:39So the depth is what I'm looking at here.
08:41And McDavid said it again yesterday.
08:43The most important thing to him is winning.
08:46So this offseason is going to be important.
08:49They probably need a new goalie between the pipes.
08:52Stuart Skinner has not been able to get it done over the past couple years.
08:55He's on his final year of his deal.
08:56You have other guys like Evander Kane, Matias Ekholm, Victor Arvinson on one year.
09:02You have free agents like Kapanen, Frederick, Jeff Skinner, Corey Perry, who's a lot older now, but offered a lot to them.
09:10There's a lot of movement here, I think, over the next year or so in Edmonton.
09:15And the franchise is going to have to make some tough decisions and show McDavid that, hey, listen, we can go back here.
09:22We can build something around you because clearly what we talked about in the previous block was the depth of the Florida Panthers.
09:29And it was very noticeable in the Stanley Cup final.
09:32You need depth.
09:33You need a bottom six.
09:34You need a third line.
09:35You need a fourth line.
09:36You need stability on the blue line.
09:38And, of course, you need somebody between the pipes that you can trust.
09:40So, I'm not ready to say that McDavid is going to leave, but this is a big offseason for the Edmonton Oilers, and it's possible we could see the game's best player on a new team.
09:52But I think that Edmonton will do what they can.
09:54I think they're going to have to make some tough decisions, as I said, maybe a couple trades to bring in some younger players.
10:02Let me ask you this.
10:04How much of it, how much do you put at the foot of the coaching staff at Edmonton?
10:08I mean, how many guys can they fire, and how many guys can they actually bring in?
10:12I mean, they were out-coached, were they not?
10:16Or do you think he's the right guy for the job?
10:19I think they were out-coached slightly.
10:22Again, I'll go to McDavid's comments.
10:24He wasn't too happy, kind of like paraphrasing here, but saying the team was doing similar things over and over.
10:31I don't think they need a new voice.
10:33Knobloch has been around McDavid for, you know, a long time.
10:37So, I just really do feel like it's higher up.
10:41It's management.
10:42You've got to build something.
10:43Certainly, the Zach Hyman loss was significant, right?
10:46That's McDavid's linemate.
10:48That's a guy who plays in the first power play.
10:49He's got a lot of grit.
10:51He led the Stanley Cup playoffs in hits.
10:52It was a significant loss not to have him on the squad.
10:55I think he scored 50-plus goals a couple years ago.
10:58So, not having him was – it wasn't great.
11:02But you need more depth.
11:03So, I do believe that if anybody's pointing fingers at anybody in Edmonton, in oil country, it probably is at upper management and making some of those decisions.
11:12So, I think we could see a new goalie.
11:15I think we could see, like, Skinner or Evander Kane maybe shipped out of town, potentially.
11:20Just try to free up some money and bring in some more depth, right?
11:24Because that's clearly what they need.
11:26And, again, if you're McDavid, there's no rush to sign at the dotted line.
11:29You see how this season goes and this offseason goes, and then you make your decision for your family and what's best moving forward.
11:35Exactly.
11:35A lot of questions certainly need to be answered.
11:37But in the last 30 seconds of this segment here, I need a question answered next year.
11:41Never too early to talk next year.
11:43Who's that favorite coming in?
11:44And also, the Panthers, one of those favorites to get back to a fourth straight Stanley Cup.
11:48My goodness, Chris.
11:49Yeah, Florida plus 750, being it's such a short number.
11:54But I look at a team like the Vegas Golden Knights at 12-1, I think that they're going to make a splash through for agency and make a trade.
12:00They've been a very aggressive franchise since they entered the league.
12:03And then the LA Kings, they've got a lot of cap space.
12:05They've been making moves over the past couple years.
12:07Lost the Oilers three straight years.
12:08Maybe this is the year that they can get it going because they do have a lot of depth, and I think they'll be aggressive.
12:13Hear me out.
12:14Bennett, McDavid, Mitch Kopp in Philadelphia.
12:18The new Big Three, people, we can make it happen.
12:20Thanks for seeing any fantastic stuff as usual.
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