Wayne Gretzky Predicts 2025 Stanley Cup Final Winner originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Game 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final kicked off Wednesday night in Edmonton as the Oilers faced the Florida Panthers. This year’s matchup is a rematch of last year’s final, which the Panthers won in seven games.
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Things feel different this time around. Oilers star Connor McDavid, who came up one game short of achieving his lifelong dream last season, has returned with a vengeance. Heading into Game 1, the three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner had recorded six goals, 20 assists and 26 points in this year’s playoffs.
It’s a similar mindset to what the Florida team brought last year after losing the Stanley Cup Final in 2023 to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Meanwhile, before this year’s final began, many fans and analysts shared their predictions for which team would take home the Cup. Among them was NHL legend Wayne Gretzky.
NHL legend Wayne Gretzky speaks during a press conference.© Amber Searls-Imagn Images
Gretzky, who now works for TNT, sat alongside the rest of the “NHL on TNT Face Off” crew during the pregame show Wednesday night and picked the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup.
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“This is for Eddie O,” Gretzky said. “These two teams are like Sunday Silence and Easy Goer back in the Kentucky Derby days of the late ’70s, or late ’80s. Listen, two great teams. My brother’s assistant GM for the Edmonton Oilers, so you know who I’m pulling for to get his name on the cup.”
Gretzky, who won four Cups as a member of the Oilers, has always been high on this Edmonton team. Before the playoffs began, the NHL on TNT crew shared their Stanley Cup Final predictions, and he picked the Oilers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In Game 1, Edmonton ended up coming back from a 3-1 deficit and won the game in overtime, thanks to a power-play goal from Leon Draisaitl. Game 2 between the Oilers and Panthers is scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m. ET in Edmonton.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.