That was one of my favorite Cup Finals in recent memory. I don't dislike either team and my primary rooting interest was a good series. It didn't look it from the start, but that wound up delivering a ton of drama and fun games. I thought it was a great balance of physical play approaching (or just over) the line without any over the top acts of violence. Both goalies had stretches of amazing play and stretches of poor play. We saw some great full-team efforts and some great individual efforts. The rarity of a team forcing game 7 after being down 3-0 and the rarity of the Conn Smythe winner being on the losing team.
On to the winners. I like a ton of guys on that team and am happy for a lot of them. Mikkola getting his first real Cup win after being a black ace for us in 2019. Tarasenko winning #2. Tkachuk being the latest STL kid to get his name on the Cup and passing it to his dad right at the end of the ESPN broadcast. A long list of players I like with no STL ties. Bob almost certainly cementing his selection to the HOF. Maurice winning one after a lifetime in the game. Luongo winning one as an exec. Tons of people to be happy for.
From a 'direction of the league' standpoint, it's the 2nd year in a row where the Cup winning team built a huge chunk of their core with bold roster transactions rather than drafting/developing and waiting. Yes, Barkov and Ekblad were early picks and are crucial to that team's success. But pretty much the entire rest of the team was built outside of drafting and developing. And like last year, the Panthers were another team that viewed their identity as a big, physical, mean, defensive team that could smother you and get production up and down the lineup. Skill and speed isn't going any where, but I love seeing teams built like this continue to have success.
On to the losers. All that said above, I would have preferred the Oilers winning. McDavid is the best hockey player I've watched in real time since Mario and I say that with an enormous amount of respect and appreciation for Sid's game. I think he absolutely deserved the Conn Smythe and I want to see him win the Cup for his 1st franchise. I don't want to see him retire without one and I don't want to see a Bourque/Hasek win that requires him to go somewhere else. But Edmonton has consistently failed to build a complete team around him and I don't see many paths to improving the roster for next year given their cap constraints. Now we get to the Drai question. And the Bouchard question. Both have 1 more year left and are due substantial raises for 2025/26. No real money comes off the books next summer to pay for the bulk of those raises, so acquisitions for 2024/25 can't take up too much space for the following season. Or maybe one of them isn't there long term. either way, it makes it really hard to improve (or even sustain) an already flawed roster.
Drai has to submit a 10 team trade list. Is there any chance that this was his last game as an Oiler? I have to think that he'd consider an extension with at least some of the teams on that list. Is the best long-term path forward to trade him in the next couple weeks for an absolute haul? Is Ken Holland the one who makes that decision?
For Edmonton, this could very well be a franchise-defining loss.
