Wayne Gretzky Predicts Winner of 2026 Stanley Cup Final

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Antonio Losada | Last updated Oct 8, 2025 8:23 PM ET

Wayne Gretzky didn’t hesitate when asked to make his Stanley Cup pick on the NHL on TNT’s season-opening panel Wednesday night.

As TNT's broadcast show, the Great One picked the Edmonton Oilers against the Tampa Bay Lightning as his 2026 finals matchup, ultimately siding with his former franchise to finally hoist the Cup after making back-to-back losing trips to the final round of the playoffs.

The TNT crew, which once again features four former NHL players in Gretzky, Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter, and Henrik Lundqvist, reunited for their first broadcast of the 2025–26 season.

Gretzky shared the reasons for leaving the reigning, back-to-back champions Florida Panthers, out of his finals matchup.

"Hey, listen," Gretzky said. "I think Florida has a great chance to get back, but those two injuries scare me a little bit for them. When (Aleksander) Barkov comes back, if those two guys come back healthy, don’t count Florida out."

The boys made their Stanley Cup Final picks... @AnsonCarterLA picked the the entire East and the entire West pic.twitter.com/SCzWkuG0vM
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) October 8, 2025

The Oilers have fallen short in two consecutive finals the last two years, most recently losing to Florida in six games before forcing Game 7 two years ago.

After an offseason built around stability and a few tweaks, including new arrivals Andrew Mangiapane and Jake Walman, plus Connor McDavid’s extension, Gretzky believes this is the year they finish the job.

“I said I was committed to winning here and I meant that,” McDavid himself said on Tuesday while setting the Oilers' goal for the season. “I think everybody understands the situation in this room and the situation this organization is in.”

Former Edmonton Oilers star Wayne Gretzky.Anne-Marie Sorvin-Imagn Images

As for Tampa Bay, the Lightning have dropped down the pecking order a bit of late with three consecutive first-round exits from the playoffs.

That said, the team has retained most of its roster for the past six years, and right before those three early exits, the Lightning went to the finals three consecutive years, winning the Stanley Cup title twice in 2020 and 2021.

The Great One’s call, Oilers over Lightning, would mark Edmonton's first Stanley Cup title since 1990, with that championship arriving as Gretzky was already playing for the Los Angeles Kings.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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