The Stanley Cup Final can make or break how a player goes down in history. "He could never win the big one" or "this guy was a winner" can sometimes be the difference between being remembered as a great player and a legendary one.
So, what's on the line from an individual legacy standpoint in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers?
We're not crowning Connor McDavid as the best player ever if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, just to be clear. But winning a ring would, at the very least, get McDavid a seat at the table with all-time greats Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, and Sidney Crosby. There's a case to be made McDavid should already be there, but he needs a ring to be a serious threat.
It's infinitely harder to win a Stanley Cup in today's 32-team, salary-capped NHL than it was in Orr's 12-team NHL, or Gretzky's 21-team NHL. Hockey is also not an individual sport. But if McDavid never wins a ring, it'll always hang over him. That's the reality - whether it's fair or not.
It's easy to think the 27-year-old will have further chances to win Stanley Cups, but you just never know. This opportunity cannot be taken for granted.
It may be impossible for a player in today's game to dominate the way Gretzky, Lemieux, and Orr did in their eras against plumbers and construction workers. The playing field is just so deep now, and everyone has elite conditioning. But McDavid is about as dominant as it gets.
He's already led the league in points five times in his nine NHL campaigns. Among players with at least 500 points, McDavid ranks third behind Gretzky and Lemieux in points per game despite playing in a lower-scoring era. He's also delivered in the postseason, ranking third behind Gretzky and Lemieux in playoff points per game.
McDavid is arguably the most electrifying player the game has ever seen. All that's missing is a Stanley Cup ring - and maybe a Conn Smythe Trophy to put the icing on the cake.
This would've sounded crazy three years ago. Sergei Bobrovsky looked to be on the decline in his first two seasons with the Panthers, and his contract was viewed as one of the NHL's worst. But he's completely flipped the script on his career since. He posted excellent regular seasons in 2021-22 and 2023-24, and he carried the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023.
The Panthers haven't needed Bobrovsky to be as spectacular this postseason, but he's still been solid, recording a .908 save percentage and a 2.20 goals against average.
A Stanley Cup ring is the only thing missing on the 35-year-old's resume. We've seen how crucial that is for a goalie to get into the Hall of Fame, as evidenced by the recent inductions for Tom Barrasso and Mike Vernon over the likes of Curtis Joseph.
Bobrovsky is already a safe bet to make the Hall of Fame. He's earned two Vezina Trophies, and 28 more game wins will move him into sole possession of 10th place on the all-time wins list. He's only 64 victories shy of passing Henrik Lundqvist for sole possession of sixth all time, too. But getting that Cup ring would all but guarantee Bobrovsky's inducted on his first try.
Last offseason, Adin Hill was the sexy pick to be Canada's No. 1 goalie at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Olympics after backing the Vegas Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup. If the Oilers prevail, Stuart Skinner will undoubtedly find himself in that same position.
This speaks more to the current state of Canadian goaltending than it does to Skinner. His competition for Canada's crease includes Hill, Logan Thompson, Jordan Binnington, Tristan Jarry, and perhaps a few others - not exactly a star-studded bunch for hockey's most storied nation. Whoever's playing the best leading up to the tournaments will most likely get the nod. But if Skinner helps Edmonton win the Cup, he'll certainly have a leg up on the competition - at least for the 4 Nations.
Skinner was abysmal in his first eight games of the 2024 playoffs, posting an .877 save percentage before he was benched for a couple games in favor of journeyman Calvin Pickard. But he's bounced back nicely with a .919 save percentage in eight games since his return.
If Skinner starts for Canada at the 4 Nations, he'd join some pretty elite company. The list of best-on-best tournament primary starters for Canada over the last 30 years includes Joseph ('96 World Cup), Patrick Roy ('98 Olympics), Martin Brodeur ('02 Olympics, '04 World Cup, '06 Olympics), Roberto Luongo ('10 Olympics), and Carey Price ('14 Olympics, '16 World Cup).
Patrice Bergeron is widely considered the best defensive forward of all time with his record six Selke Trophies. But as far as the greatest two-way centers in league history go, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov can match Bergeron's trophy pace through their age-28 seasons - with a sizable offensive edge.
| Stat | Bergeron | Barkov |
|---|---|---|
| GP | 659 | 737 |
| G | 183 | 266 |
| A | 312 | 445 |
| P/GP | 0.75 | 0.96 |
| Selkes | 2 | 2 |
| Cups | 1 | ? |
Bergeron aged like a fine wine, winning five more Selke Trophies between the ages of 29 and 37. Barkov could do the same thing - especially now that Bergeron is retired. Barkov will surely enter 2024-25 season as the favorite to win the award again.
Barkov is also in the midst of cementing his legacy during what's been an incredible playoff run. He ranks second on the Panthers with 17 points in as many games and leads the team with a 60.8% five-on-five expected goals share, per Evolving-Hockey. That mark also leads all remaining postseason skaters.
The Finnish center has played an integral role in shutting down the opposition. Florida has faced three of the league's best offensive players through three rounds - Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, and Artemi Panarin - but Barkov and the Panthers have limited them to two goals combined. If Barkov can help contain McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, he's a safe bet to win the Conn Smythe.
Barkov can become just the ninth player in NHL history with multiple Selkes and a Stanley Cup. Only Hall of Famer Bob Gainey was won multiple Selkes, a Stanley Cup, and a Conn Smythe.
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