Five Oilers who could be X-Factors against the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final

Of course, that agitator side of him is still very much alive. He’s a surefire Hall of Famer someday — and if there were an Agitator Hall of Fame, he’d be a first-ballot lock. Just ask 6-foot-7 Lian Bichsel, who got mocked by Perry at the end of Game 1 last round against the Dallas Stars for turtling in the dying seconds.

So, for every sneaky rat-like play Brad Marchand has in his bag of tricks for Florida, you know Perry has a wormy comeback ready — and he also just happens to be a former Hart Trophy winner, Rocket Richard Trophy winner, and member of the Triple Gold Club. He’s absolutely sizzling heading into the Cup Final, and you’d have to think he’s ready to do whatever it takes to finally end his Cup Final losing streak.

Connor Brown

Connor Brown missed the final two games of the last series against the Stars after taking a crushing hit from defenceman Alex Petrovic. However, he was back practicing with the team last Sunday, and by all accounts, it looks like he’ll be ready for Game 1 against the Panthers.

The reason I feel he’ll be an X-factor in the upcoming series against Florida is that he should be rested and fired up and ready to go, just like he was before Game 4 last round when he jumped out from a cabinet in the Oilers dressing room to announce the starting lineup, much to the excitement of his teammates.

Also, call it a hunch not backed by data, but something about Brown gives a gut feeling he’s primed for a big moment in the Final.

Before being sidelined last series against the Stars, he was playing so well — he’s produced eight points (5G, 3A) so far, which is two more than he had in all of last year’s playoffs, and five fewer games. He’s also a key part of the Oilers’ penalty kill. Even after missing the last two games, he still leads all Oilers forwards in shorthanded ice time (26:43), and during those minutes, the Oilers have generated three high-danger scoring chances with him on the ice.

But above all, when the Oilers faced the Panthers in the Finals last year, a couple of goals still stand out in my mind. The first was McDavid weaving through the entire Panthers squad on the power play in Game 5, then sliding it over to Perry for the finish. The second was the opening goal of that same game — Brown picked off the puck shorthanded, barreled in on Sergei Bobrovsky, outwaited him on the backhand, and beat him with a beautiful deke.

Players tend not to forget their highlight-reel moments, and Brown knows he’s pulled off a slick deke to fool Bobrovsky before — no small feat given how well the goalie has played — and that belief might help tip the scales.

Jake Walman & John Klingberg

The next two Oilers I feel will be difference-makers against the Panthers are Jake Walman and John Klingberg. Perhaps they won’t be x-factors in the sense of scoring game-clinching goals, but with their mobility, first pass, and puck-moving ability, the Oilers’ third pairing — if you can even call them that — could certainly tilt the ice in Edmonton’s favour.

One of Florida’s strengths is their aggressive forecheck — something Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube highlighted in the second round when he said, “They forecheck hard and they’re physical and they’re in your face.” Their goal is to create turnovers and apply relentless pressure in the offensive zone.

One effective way to counter Florida’s aggressive forecheck is with mobile, puck-moving D-men who can think quickly under pressure. Whether it’s evading forecheckers with their feet or making a crisp first pass for a clean breakout, that’s an area where the Walman-Klingberg pairing has excelled this postseason. Walman, the smoother skater of the two, routinely retrieved dump-ins and skated the puck out of trouble last round against Dallas. Meanwhile, Klingberg has consistently threaded 100-foot passes onto his forward’s tape throughout the playoffs.

Overall, Walman has been a superb pickup, producing six points in the playoffs and has a team-leading +12 rating, as well as leading the team in shot blocks with 43. Klingberg has been stellar too, with four points and ranking fourth on the team with 27 blocks. That said, diving deeper into the advanced stats, among pairings that have played at least 75 minutes together at 5v5 in the playoffs, the pairing ranks in the NHL as follows according to Natural Stat Trick:

• 6th in high-danger chances for percentage — 61.19%
• 7th in shots for percentage — 57.75%
• 7th in expected goals for percentage — 56.72%
• 15th in scoring chances for percentage — 52.57%

Last year in the Finals, the Oilers played Vincent Desharnais on the third pair for only one game, Game 2. While Mattias Ekholm, Evan Bouchard, Brett Kulak, and Darnell Nurse remain from last year’s blue line, Philip Broberg and Cody Ceci , who played regular minutes in last year’s Finals, are no longer with the team. That said, Broberg stepped up last Finals and was mobile but still fairly raw and not without his flaws, and the veterans Walman and Klingberg move the puck much better than Ceci. That means those two valuable veteran additions on the back end for this year’s Finals could make a big difference in limiting the Panthers’ attack.

Evander Kane

The fact that Evander Kane returned to the lineup after missing almost a year of hockey and has looked like he hasn’t missed a beat — producing 11 points in 15 playoff games and has barely shown any rust — shows what a tremendous athlete he is.

And more than any other Oiler, I believe he’ll be the biggest X-factor in the Stanley Cup Final.

Why? Because Kane was playing injured last playoffs, recording only a single assist in the last nine games he played in. He certainly wasn’t himself in last year’s Final, battling a sports hernia and core issues. He played in only two games against Florida and was scratched for the rest of the series, with his injuries being so severe that he required multiple surgeries over the past year. A healthy Kane last playoffs could’ve made a huge difference.

Yet, this year, he looks like his old self — producing, chirping, and being physical. While Florida has some feisty, physical players who also produce plenty of points, like Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, it’s Kane who, out of the two remaining teams, is the top dog when it comes to being a pesky, point-producing pugilist — when he’s at the top of his game.

With a healthy deterrent like Kane, I find it hard to believe the Panthers will have the upper hand in the gamesmanship battle in this upcoming series. For example, in the last round when Tkachuk went after Sebastian Aho at the end of Game 3, the Carolina Hurricanes didn’t respond. That won’t fly under Kane’s watch (or many other Oilers’ watch) if the Panthers target some of the Oilers’ top players. As a result, Edmonton should feel more comfortable playing their game and can focus on putting pucks in the net.

Moreover, Kane has previous experience neutralizing Tkachuk, having done so in the second round of 2022 when Tkachuk was with the Calgary Flames. Tkachuk scored a hat trick in Game 1 and even poked fun at Kane’s financial issues, but after that, the tide turned. Tkachuk wasn’t much of a factor for the rest of the series. Kane chirped and played him physically, throwing 10 hits total in Game 3 and even scored a natural hat trick in that game, as the Oilers defeated the Flames in five.

Overall, Kane should be feeling good about his game heading into the Finals, having recorded four points (1G, 3A) last round, and averaged exactly five hits per game. If he can neutralize the gamesmanship the Panthers bring and put a few pucks past Bobrovsky this series, the Oilers’ odds of winning the Cup definitely go up.

With that in mind, let’s hear it, Nation Citizens — who’s your top pick for the Oilers’ X-factor to tip the scales in Edmonton’s favour in the Finals?