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Matthew Tkachuk Opens up Ahead of Highly Anticipated Oilers Rematch

Originally posted on Blade of Steel | By Jack Sutherland | Last updated Jun 1, 2025 5:00 PM ET

Florida Panthers assistant captain Matthew Tkachuk is opening up about the highly anticipated rematch against the Oilers in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final and his team's chances of a repeat.

The two best teams in the National Hockey League are right back at it again in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, the 1st rematch between two teams in the Final since the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008 and 2009.

The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers will battle it out once again after last year's grueling 7-game series that saw the Panthers race out to a 3-0 lead, the Oilers tie the series at 3-3, and then the Panthers claim the Stanley Cup with a 2-1 win in Game 7.

Panthers forward and assistant captain Matthew Tkachuk recently said that a Finals rematch is something that both teams would have immediately signed up for last summer if they had known it was a possibility.

If you had asked these two teams during the summer to sign up for a Stanley Cup rematch, we all would've rushed to sign that piece of paper.

This is Tkachuk's 3rd straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers since he was acquired in the summer of 2022 in a blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames that sent former Panthers fan favorite Jonathan Huberdeau as well as defenseman MacKenzie Weegar to Calgary.

The fortunes of the two clubs since the deal could not have been different, as the Panthers are in their 3rd straight Cup Final with a chance for a 2nd straight championship, while the Flames have missed the playoffs 3 years running now.

Tkachuk has 16 points (5G, 11A) in 17 postseason games so far, and he'll be hoping to add to that total against the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final.

This article first appeared on Blade of Steel and was syndicated with permission.

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