If Panthers Win the Cup, Bennett and/or Marchand Get Conn Smythe

If the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night when they play host to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6, either Sam Bennett or Brad Marchand is going to win the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoffs MVP.

You can take that one to the bank.

Hey, maybe it’s a tie and both get it.

Going into Game 4 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final, there was a thought that if the Florida Panthers won it all that night, Sergei Bobrovsky would win the Conn Smythe.

But as the Oilers got deeper into the series, that award was going to Connor McDavid regardless of whether Edmonton won the Stanley Cup or not.

We know what happened: Florida won the Cup in Game 7, and McDavid refused to come out of the visitors’ locker room to get his trophy.

That’s not going to happen this year.

The Panthers now hold a 3-2 series lead after beating the Oilers 5-2 on Saturday night with Game 6 on Tuesday in Sunrise.

If the Panthers win the Stanley Cup, one of their players is going to win the Conn Smythe.

Right now, the top two contenders for the Conn Smythe are Bennett and Marchand.

Have to think Bobrovsky is a distant third. Perhaps Sasha Barkov.

Bennett and Marchand have come up big in the biggest moments in these playoffs.

On Saturday, Bennett scored his playoff-leading 15th goal — with 13 of them coming on the road — to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the first.

A year ago, Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett were not the best of friends. 

Marchand got his 10th of the postseason and sixth of the Final by scoring not once but twice in Game 5.

Neither Bennett nor Marchand gives a rats’ you-know-what about the Conn Smythe.

They want the big prize.

One more win, and it belongs to the Panthers.

Marchand, for one, is not looking ahead.

“I’m not there. It’s about the process,’’ Marchand told Sportsnet following the win Saturday.

Trust the process, always.

PS: Bennett or Marchand are Conn Smythe Trophy favorites for the Florida Panthers?

Who saw that coming last year?

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 6

EDMONTON OILERS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS 

Panthers Lead Best-of-7 Series 3-2

• When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• National TV: TNT/truTV 
• National Streaming: Max
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys), SiriusXM
• Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
• Series Schedule (all games at 8 p.m., TNT) — Game 1: @Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT); Game 2: Florida 5, @Edmonton 4 (2OT); Game 3: @Florida 6, Edmonton 1; Game 4: Edmonton 5, @Florida 4 (OT); Game 5: Florida 5, @Edmonton 2; Game 6: @Florida Tuesday; Game 7*: @Edmonton Friday.
• How They Got Here: Edmonton d. Los Angeles (6), Vegas (5), Dallas (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• Postseason History: Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• Regular Season: Panthers won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties