NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 16, 2025
NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 16, 2025
The latest on the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers ahead of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, the countries that qualified for the 2026 Olympics Men’s Hockey tournament begin to announce the top-six players for their preliminary rosters, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
STANLEY CUP FINAL NOTEBOOK
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Robert Tychkowski looks at several troubling issues facing the Oilers heading into Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.
Down three games to two, the Oilers have proven capable of coming back throughout this postseason. However, they seemed overwhelmed by the Panthers’ aggressive forechecking in Game 5. They’ve also been plagued by slow starts in this series, playing as though they were fearful of taking penalties.
The Oilers have yet to reveal their goaltender for Game 6. However, Tychkowski believes it doesn’t matter because Panthers starter Sergei Bobrovsky has been better than the Oilers tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: There’s been an air of inevitability to this series since the Panthers’ lopsided 6-1 victory in Game 3. The Oilers’ two overtime wins were victories in games that could’ve just as easily gone Florida’s way, while two of the Panthers’ three wins were dominating performances. They seemed well on their way to another overwhelming victory in Game 4, but took their foot off the gas, enabling the Oilers to play their way back.

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (NHL Images).
Panthers forwards Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand are the favorites to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Still, Bobrovsky deserves recognition for his solid performance in this postseason, burnishing his resume for his future induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: The Panthers’ ability to learn quickly from their mistakes has them on the cusp of winning their second-straight Stanley Cup.
Their win over the Oilers in Game 5 was the fifth straight time that they’ve been victorious following a loss.
Panthers forward Brad Marchand said they learned in the opening game of this series that they needed to be prepared, especially in the early going. They also know that the Oilers can take over a game, and must be ready to match their skill level and scoring ability.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Panthers have opened the scoring in every game in this series except Game 1, and built two and three-goal, first-period leads in the last three contests. They’ve put the Oilers on the back foot early, knocking them off their game plan and forcing them to play catch-up. If that trend continues in Game 6, the Panthers will hoist the Stanley Cup for the second straight year.
IN OTHER NEWS…
IIHF: The 12 countries that qualified for the 2026 Olympics Men’s Hockey tournament are announcing the six players of their preliminary rosters today. Here are the notable NHL players for each preliminary roster (as of 7 am ET):
Sweden: William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs), Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings), Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning), Lucas Raymond (Detroit Red Wings), Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres), and Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche).
Finland: Mikko Rantanen (Dallas Stars), Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes), Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers), Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators), Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars), and Esa Lindell (Dallas Stars).
Czechia: David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins), Martin Necas (Colorado Avalanche), Pavel Zacha (Boston Bruins), Radko Gudas (Anaheim Ducks), Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks), and Ondrej Palat (New Jersey Devils).
Switzerland: Roman Josi (Nashville Predators), Nico Hischier (New Jersey Devils), Timo Meier (New Jersey Devils), Kevin Fiala (Los Angeles Kings), Nino Niederreiter (Winnipeg Jets) and Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey Devils).
Latvia: Elvis Merzlikins (Columbus Blue Jackets), Uvis Balenskis (Florida Panthers), Teodors Blugers (Vancouver Canucks), Arturs Silovs (Vancouver Canucks), Zemgus Girgensons (Tampa Bay Lightning), and Rodrigo Abols (Philadelphia Flyers).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Italy has also released their preliminary six, but none of them are NHL players. The remaining countries (Canada, United States, Denmark, France, Germany and Slovakia) will release their “Olympic Six” throughout Monday.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Boston Bruins signed defenseman Victor Soderstrom to a one-year, two-way contract. They acquired his NHL rights last week from the Chicago Blackhawks.
OTTAWA SUN: The Senators are bringing Lassi Thomson back from Europe, signing the 24-year-old Finnish defenseman to a one-year, two-way contract. A first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, he spent last season playing for Malmo in the Swedish Hockey League.