NHL Stanley Cup Final 2023: Early Hot Takes for Golden Knights vs. Panthers

With the Stanley Cup Final matchup set between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers, the NHL is guaranteed to have a first-time winner.

The Golden Knights notably made it to the Cup Final in their first season in 2018 before eventually losing to the Washington Capitals 4-1. The Panthers haven't been in this spot since 1996, when they fell to the Colorado Avalanche in four games.

There has been some handwringing surrounding this year's Final, given both the lopsided nature (the No. 1 Golden Knights and the lowest-seeded Panthers) and the markets, as these teams stormed past Original Six franchises such as the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs to get here.

Actually, both those storied franchises fell to the Panthers, who have been on an absolute tear without any regard for their seeding or what their storyline is supposed to be. And that Cinderella story is much more captivating for a lot of casual viewers than a heavyweight fight.

Let's dive deeper into some other strongly held beliefs and storylines that could come up during the next four to seven games.

In June 2022, the Boston Bruins fired coach Bruce Cassidy after six seasons with the team, during which his squad went 245-108-46 and made it to Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final (before a heartbreaking loss to the St. Louis Blues).

In the season before he was fired, Cassidy led the B's to the playoffs for the sixth consecutive time and took the Carolina Hurricanes to seven games in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

When Bruins GM Don Sweeney announced the move, The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa detailed what may have gone on behind the scenes, with Cassidy's "no-nonsense philosophy" and pressure on the younger players to step up taking a toll and leading to some players, such as star Jake DeBrusk, to request a trade.

Expectations weren't high when Boston brought in Jim Montgomery; certainly, no one thought the Bruins in 2022-23 would go on to become the winningest regular-season team in NHL history.

But then they collapsed in a historic manner against the hungry Panthers, leaving some to question Montgomery's choices in the playoffs, including sticking with an injured Linus Ullmark in goal when the team had been rotating him regularly with Jeremy Swayman and getting incredible results in the regular season, and a top-line switch-up that seemed destined to fail from the start.

Meanwhile, Cassidy and the Golden Knights posted a 51-22-9 record with 111 points, a franchise best. He took advantage of a roster loaded with stars and made the fixes that it needed, namely accountability as well as a retool of the defense. Vegas was top dog in the Western Conference and now Cassidy has a chance to bring the franchise its first-ever Cup...by defeating the team that shockingly bounced his former employer.

It's been one of the feel-good stories of these playoffs; after an ignominious regular season in which he posted a 3.07 goals-against average and and .901 save percentage, Sergei Bobrovsky was relegated to the bench for the Panthers ahead of the playoffs with Alex Lyon in net.

But in Game 3 of the first-round series against the Bruins on April 21, head coach Paul Maurice opted for another change, putting in Bobrovsky with the Panthers trailing 3-0. At that point, Bobrovsky hadn't played since March 27, and there were questions about the switch. But to say it paid off would be an understatement; in these playoffs, Bobrovsky has gone 11-2 with a postseason career-low 2.21 goals-against average and a save percentage of .935.

He's also at 19.7 goals saved above expected in his 13 games, which equals 1.5 goals saved above expected per game. As The Athletic's Scott Wheeler put it, "Bobrovsky is going to save more goals above expected than any goalie since the tracking began. If he doesn't win it, a goalie can't win it. With all due respect to Tkachuk, it should be a landslide."

Wheeler acknowledges how clutch Tkachuk—who has 21 points (including nine goals) and a plus/minus of 10—has been in these playoffs. But the argument is that without Bobrovsky standing on his head in goal, the Panthers' star players never get the chance for heroics.

The No. 1 Golden Knights have opened as slight favorites over the plucky Panthers, at -130 (bet $130 to win $100) per DraftKings Sportsbook.

That's no surprise...on paper. The Golden Knights were the top seed in the Western Conference, and the Panthers were the last team in the East.

But then you look at the paths both teams took to get here. Vegas got the No. 2 wild card Winnipeg Jets to start, then met the No. 2 Edmonton Oilers before the No. 4 seed in the West, the Dallas Stars, whom they needed six games to dispatch.

The Panthers, on the other hand, faced the NHL team with the most points and most wins in the regular season in the No. 1 Boston Bruins, embarrassing them in a Game 7 shocker, before moving on to bounce the Eastern Conference No. 4 Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 and then sweeping the No. 2 Carolina Hurricanes.

Bobrovsky proved when he entered these playoffs in Game 3 of the first round that having an extended layoff hasn't affected his momentum, so there's no reason it should after the Panthers waited around for the Golden Knights to clinch the West.

Matthew Tkachuk has unlocked a new gear and is well positioned to match up against Vegas' strong defense. He's the highest scorer left in these playoffs, with 21 points, compared to Vegas' high scorer, Jack Eichel, who has 18.

You'll hear again and again that Florida is built for the playoffs, and the team has proved that through each statement win. Now there's just one more to take care of.

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