Within hours of posting their Stanley Cup odds for 2027, BetMGM sparked a wildfire of debates on social media when they released their rankings of the previous ten Stanley Cup winners, picking the 2024-25 Florida Panthers as the decade’s best.
Ranking the last 10 Stanley Cup Champions pic.twitter.com/EnS5fKQscz
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) June 15, 2026
At first glance, most of the comments are about the current champions, the Carolina Hurricanes, who became the first team since the 1988 Edmonton Oilers to go 16-3 in the playoffs en route to winning it all. This year’s squad didn’t lose a game until the third round and went into the Final 12-1 before losing Game 1 and Game 3 to the Vegas Golden Knights. They won the Stanley Cup, with journeyman goalie Brandon Bussi substituting for Frederick Andersen in the third period of Game 3.
Recently, The Sporting News also named the 2024-25 Panthers one of the greatest teams of all time, despite finishing third in the Atlantic Division that year and winning their second back-to-back titles with a 16-7 playoff record. Meanwhile, Carolina spent all 82 games of the 2025-26 season in a playoff spot and won the Metropolitan Division for the fourth time in the past six seasons.
Because the Panthers won two Stanley Cups in the past ten seasons, they made the list twice, with the 2023-24 squad ranking fifth, once again, ahead of the 2026 Hurricanes. On the way to appearing in their second consecutive Final, the Panthers claimed the Atlantic Division crown and fought their way to a championship with a 16-8 record. In the Stanley Cup Final, Florida risked becoming one of the few teams ever to blow a 3-0 series lead, letting the Oilers battle all the way back and forcing a Game 7.
A lot of criticism from fans online points out that the Hurricanes barely faced any adversity on their run. In the first round, they swept the wildcard Ottawa Senators (99 points) before sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers (98 points). The young Montreal Canadiens (106 points) may have won only one game, but the Hurricanes took four straight to advance to the Final for the first time since 2006. Once there, they defeated the Golden Knights (95 points) in six games.
Looking back at the Panthers' journey in 2025, they eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning (102 points) in five games before going the distance against the Toronto Maple Leafs (108 points), then challenged and defeated the Hurricanes (99 points) in five games in the Eastern Conference Final. In the rematch against the Oilers (101), Florida didn't repeat the same mistake, winning the series in six games, avoiding a winner-take-all Game 7.
Of course, this ranking by BetMGM was either created by a single person or by a group. When the list went online, little did anyone think that this particular list, putting the Panthers at the top, would create such an uproar, especially just hours after an historic run by the Hurricanes.
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