SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers are ready to face off for the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row, and the finalists’ rosters are stocked with graduates of the American Hockey League.
Edmonton, the parent club of the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, won the Western Conference with contributions from AHL alumni up and down the roster – 24 of the 26 players to dress for a playoff game for the Oilers so far have spent time in the American Hockey League, including seven former Condors.
Guiding the Oilers is Kris Knoblauch, who has guided Edmonton to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals following four-plus seasons as head coach of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.
Evan Bouchard is having another standout postseason for the Oilers, with six goals and 11 assists in 16 games through three rounds. An AHL All-Star as a rookie in 2019-20, where his patented slap shot registered 103.0 miles per hour at the annual Skills Competition, Bouchard has totaled 75 points in 69 postseason games over the last four seasons in Edmonton.
Another former AHL All-Star, Connor Brown, has contributed five goals this postseason. Brown earned a spot on the AHL All-Rookie Team as a member of the Toronto Marlies in 2014-15. Corey Perry is tied for the Edmonton team lead with seven playoff goals, 21 years after making his pro debut with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks during the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs. A Stanley Cup winner with Anaheim in 2007, Perry is heading to his fifth Final series in the last six seasons.
The goaltending duo of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have both contributed to the Oilers’ run this spring. Skinner, who played 113 games in the AHL with Bakersfield between 2018 and 2022, has three shutouts in 10 playoff starts, while Pickard, a veteran of 321 AHL games and a Calder Cup champion with Toronto in 2018, is a perfect 6-0 this postseason.
Other notable AHL alumni on Edmonton’s roster include Zach Hyman, Adam Henrique, Darnell Nurse, Mattias Janmark, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jake Walman and Leon Draisaitl, who began the 2015-16 season with Bakersfield before going on to be an NHL MVP and a four-time 50-goal scorer.
Making their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, the Florida Panthers – parent club of the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers – have been boosted by AHL alumni including Carter Verhaeghe, who was the AHL’s scoring champion in 2018-19. Verhaeghe, who played 211 games in the AHL with Syracuse, Bridgeport and Toronto before making his NHL debut in 2019, has tallied six goals and eight assists this postseason on the heels of his fourth consecutive 20-goal season.
Other AHL alumni with the Panthers include Gustav Forsling, Eetu Luostarinen, Brad Marchand, Evan Rodrigues, Niko Mikkola, Nate Schmidt and former AHL All-Stars A.J. Greer and Vitek Vanecek. Forward Tomas Nosek played three seasons in the AHL, winning a Calder Cup championship with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2017.
Head coach Paul Maurice coached the AHL’s Toronto Marlies in 2005-06, and general manager Bill Zito won a Calder Cup as GM of the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016.
The 2025 Stanley Cup Final begins Wednesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta.
In operation since 1936, the AHL serves as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers.
