Stanley Cup Final observations: Bennett's price tag, McDavid's 'walk-on-water' moment and more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.

There is never a bad time to have an offensive explosion during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but Sam Bennetts timing this spring has been impeccable.

The Florida Panthers center is having a serious glow up with free agency on the horizon July 1.

Bennett leads all playoff scorers with 13 goals, including three already during the Cup Final, and sits second with 58 shots on goal.

Hes played well enough to put himself in serious consideration for the Conn Smythe Trophy and could become the first NHL player in history to hit the open market immediately after being crowned the leagues playoff MVP.

Advertisement Since the Conn Smythe was first awarded in 1964-65, no winner has ever switched teams before the start of the next season.

While Bennett is believed to have strong interest in signing a new deal with the Panthers, the unprecedented nature of his situation could lead to a difficult business decision in the next few weeks.

The 28-year-old is fresh off his first career 50-point regular season but has shown tremendous value in the playoffs that will see him paid well beyond your typical 50-point producer.

There is virtually no precedent for this kind of postseason performance by a pending unrestricted free agent.

Marian Gaborik had a playoff-leading 14 goals for the Los Angeles Kings in 2014 after being acquired at the trade deadline and wound up signing a seven-year extension rather than testing the open market following a Cup win, while Bennetts teammate Sam Reinhart got a new eight-year deal with the Panthers last July 1 after scoring 10 goals during their championship run.

However, neither of those players were part of the Conn Smythe discussion.

Bennett finds himself there today with 19 points in 19 games two more than any other Panthers player.

His hard-area play around the opposing goal crease and surge in production will have suitors lining up if the Panthers dont ink him to an extension once this series is over.

Magic McDavid Connor McDavid continues to keep company with the all-time legends.

With five assists in two games to open this series, the Edmonton Oilers captain is up to 16 points in nine career games played during the Stanley Cup Final giving him a rate of 1.78 points per game, the second best all-time mark in NHL history, between Mario Lemieux (2.11) and Wayne Gretzky (1.71) among players to appear in multiple finals.

Talk about rarified air.

The assist McDavid dished out to Leon Draisaitl in the first period of Game 2 on Friday was the kind of special play kids spent the weekend trying to mimic in their driveways.

Circling down through the heart of the offensive zone, McDavid leapt around three-time Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov before pulling the puck to the inside while eluding Aaron Ekblads attempted stick sweep and sliding it over to Draisaitl in one fluid motion.

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING PLAY FROM MCDAVID TO SET UP DRAISAITL OILERS LEAD AGAIN pic.twitter.com/zW9oUwzTmU Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) June 7, 2025 Asked Sunday how he pulled that off, McDavid struggled for an answer before Draisaitl jumped in with an assist of his own: You cant learn that.

Let me answer it for you.

Ill answer it for him.

All Ekblad could do was tip his hat as well.

Hes got multiple options so thats the biggest challenge, right? the Panthers defenseman told reporters.

Youre trying to block a shot, youre trying to block a low pass, a backdoor pass, and a walk-on-water toe drag.

Advertisement So, yeah, McJesus.

McDavids next point in the Cup Final will move him past a group that includes Patrick Kane for career production in the NHLs championship series.

He sits two points back of Evgeni Malkin, three behind Lemieux and trails Sidney Crosby, among others, by four.

It wouldnt be surprising to see McDavid leapfrog them all before the end of this series.

Bobs reset The double off days couldnt come at a better time after a sensational opening two games in the Stanley Cup Final.

McDavid has played the equivalent of three games already thanks to a pair of overtime affairs.

But perhaps its Sergei Bobrovsky who benefits the most from the double off days not just before Game 3, but again ahead of Game 4.

The Panthers over the past number of years have always kept a close eye on Bobrovskys energy levels.

His 54 games in the regular season and 19 playoff starts puts him at 73 for the season.

Bobrovsky, though, actually seems to be getting better in his old age.

Remember when people pointed to his contract as one of the worst in the league? Three straight runs to the Cup Final with Bob at the heart of it has erased that narrative, to be sure.

So how has he been able to rediscover the best version of himself the past few years? I think it goes hand in hand with a few things, Roberto Luongo, special adviser to the GM in Florida, who is also in charge of the Panthers Goaltending Excellence Department, told The Athletic earlier in these playoffs.

First of all, when we brought Mo (head coach Paul Maurice) in and changed our system, it was a better defensive system for the goalies.

The first few years Bob was here, he was left on an island a little bit.

And sometimes as a goalie, when you know youll be facing a lot of high-danger shots every night and backdoor chances, it kind of changes the way you play a little bit.

Less aggressive.

Now youre cheating.

Youre not playing the shooter as much.

Advertisement Once Mo came in, we stabilized that.

It gave him more confidence.

And now when those things happened, which they do, he has more confidence that he can make those saves.

Luongo also thinks Bobrovsky feels more at home in his surroundings.

I also think hes in a better place mentally as far as just being more comfortable in Florida and now having a relationship with our goalie coach after a few years, the trust that they built, Luongo said.

So it all kind of came together at the right time.

Coaches deals Paul Maurice is in the final days of his old contract before commencing a well-deserved, five-year extension next season a deal he signed in the fall.

Maurice, by the way, is currently at 999 career NHL head-coaching wins, including regular season and playoffs.

So hes gunning for win No.

1,000 this week.

His counterpart, Kris Knoblauch, meanwhile, is entering the final season of this three-year contract next season.

Talk about strengthening his leverage for his second NHL deal.

Aside from Knoblauch, other coaches entering the final year of their contracts are Jon Cooper with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ryan Huska with the Calgary Flames and Lindy Ruff with the Buffalo Sabres.

My sense is both Cooper and Huska should have extensions in hand before next season begins.

Road wins The Panthers are one road win away from tying the NHL postseason record of 10, held by several teams, including the 2019 St.

Louis Blues and 2012 Los Angeles Kings.

That championship Kings team, which began each series on the road and began each series with a 3-0 series lead, went 10-1 overall.

We were a team that was under pressure since Game 1 of the regular season, former Kings captain Dustin Brown told The Athletic , referring to the Kings barely making the playoffs as No.

8 seeds that year.

So we were comfortable in uncomfortable situations.

Pair that with depth and love for one another and you have a team that can find ways to win on the road when it mattered most.

Also helps when youre team tough.

Kings were that, and Panthers are now, too.

Extra time Of all the stats we might highlight to underline how special this series has been, how about these two? There have been four total lead changes already in two games just the second time in the past 42 years thats happened and the Oilers and Panthers have been separated by one goal or less for all but 77 seconds played so far.

Should Mondays Game 3 require overtime, it will be the first time since the 1951 Cup Final between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens in which overtime decided the first three games of the championship series.

(Photo of Sergei Bobrovsky and Sam Bennett: Steph Chambers / Getty Images).

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