The 2025 Stanley Cup Final is set to begin on Wednesday night, and once again it's the Florida Panthers against the Edmonton Oilers. We all know how last year went with the Oilers erasing a 3-0 deficit only to fall in Florida in Game 7, but it could be different this time around.
While the St. Louis Blues will be watching from their couch, two former players will be facing off here in the Stanley Cup Final.
Let's start with Edmonton Oilers winger Kasperi Kapanen.
The 2014 first-round pick was traded to Toronto where he spent the first four years of his career. He then rejoined the team that drafted him in Pittsburgh for two-and-a-half seasons before being waived by the Penguins.
Kapanen was claimed off waivers by the Blues on February 25, 2023. He went on to play 23 games for the Blues that season, putting up eight goals and six assists for 14 points in St. Louis. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep up that high-scoring pace with just six goals and 22 points in 72 games during the 2023-24 season.
He entered this past season with a chance to bounce back in a Blues lineup looking for some scoring depth. However, after scoring just one goal on 11 shots in 10 games, the Blues waived the journeyman winger.
The Oilers claimed Kapanen off waivers on November 19, 2024 and put up 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) in 57 games in Edmonton. He was then a healthy scratch to start the playoffs, but got a chance in the second round against Vegas and hasn't looked back. He scored the overtime game-winner to advance to the Western Conference Final, where he had two goals while playing on the second line.
Kapanen may see some of former St. Louis Blues defenseman Niko Mikkola throughout this series.
The Florida Panthers blueliner spent the first three-plus NHL seasons with the Blues after being selected in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Draft. He played five games in the 2019-20 season, 30 the next year, and 54 in the 2021-22 season.
Ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, Mikkola (as a pending free agent) and Vladimir Tarasenko were traded to the New York Rangers for a pair of draft picks, Samuel Blais, and Hunter Skinner.
The defenseman signed with the Panthers in the summer of 2023 and won the Stanley Cup in Florida last year. He's looking to repeat as a reliable defenseman for the Cats.