The NHL’s Stanley Cup final takes place from June 8 until as late as……..

Will the Edmonton Oilers or Florida Panthers Win It All?

The NHL’s Stanley Cup final takes place from June 8 until as late as June 24, and it’s as good a time as any to look back at this writer’s post-season series predictions.

We were 8-4 heading into the third round of the playoffs, but we went 0-2 in the conference finals. Still, 8-6 could be worse, right? Let’s finish things off with our pick to win the Cup final. FLORIDA PANTHERS (A1) VS. EDMONTON OILERS (P2) Why the Oilers could win: We’ve bet against the Oilers in all three rounds they’ve played this spring, and they’ve beaten the Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars to upset our predictions’ apple cart.

The Oilers’ high-octane offense has been the driver of their success, and they’re getting just enough above-average goaltending to beat out teams that, on paper at least, are better than them.

Superstar forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and top defenseman Evan Bouchard have done their part to get Edmonton where they are today, but supporting role players Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have also delivered when the games matter most. So long as goalie Stuart Skinner doesn’t completely fall apart, the Oilers will use their speed and instincts to attack Florida and put the aggressive Panthers on their heels.

This Oilers team has pluck and verve, and they will almost assuredly win at least a couple of games against Florida. The question is how they’ll respond to the Panthers’ physical attack. If they maintain their composure, the Oilers have enough star power to put Florida in a very difficult position.

Why the Panthers could win: The Panthers had extremely tough tests in their first three playoff series this spring. But they knocked off the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers with their robust physical style and the contributions of top forwards Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk.

Forwards Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett also have stepped up with timely goals, and defensemen Gustav Forsling, Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are eating up major minutes on the back end. There’s incredible balance in this group of players, and Florida GM Bill Zito knows he’s never going to get as good a shot at the Cup as this one.