Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid was understandably succinct in summing up his feelings after falling short in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

"It sucks, yeah," he said.

The Oilers admirably rallied from a 3-0 series deficit against the Florida Panthers, but the Cardiac Cats held on with a 2-1 victory Monday night to secure their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

"You knew it was gonna be tight, you know, Game 7 for the Cup. ... It's tough. They did a good job of shutting things down," McDavid said. "We had our looks, just didn't find it."

McDavid technically didn't go home empty-handed as he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the postseason, but it wasn't the hardware he wanted.

"I guess an honor with the names on that trophy, but," the superstar said, trailing off.

McDavid is now the sixth player in NHL history to hold the mantle of playoff MVP as a member of the losing side. He didn't return to the ice to accept the trophy.

"I don't think he cares (about winning the Conn Smythe)," Leon Draisaitl said. "It speaks to how amazing of a hockey player he is. But no player in the world that wants to win a Stanley Cup more than him. He does everything right every single day just to win it one day. It's really hard, especially him being sad, being disappointed at the end."

"He's the greatest player to ever play in my books," he continued. "So many things that a lot of people don't see that he does. His work ethic, he singlehandedly turned our franchise around pretty much. Just love sharing the ice with him. He's a really really special person."

Despite the sting of defeat, McDavid said he was "proud" of the resiliency his team showed all year.

Edmonton was tied for last place in the league in November before a coaching change helped the team climb its way out of the basement and into the Stanley Cup Final.

"We were behind the eight ball almost immediately," McDavid said with a chuckle. "We fought an uphill climb for months and months and months. It just sucks."

He added: "We were right there. Right there."

Draisaitl, meanwhile, said he hopes his team can take something positive from the disappointing loss.

"I think for the most part, it's just learning lessons, right?" he said. "We've done that over the last couple of years very well and implemented those lessons. But it's tough to drag a lesson out of this one when you're really one shot or two shots away from accomplishing everything."

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Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo is abandoning the prospect of reactivating the franchise, PHNX Sports' Craig Morgan reports.

The site of Meruelo's planned arena for a future Coyotes franchise became unavailable last week when the Arizona State Land Department canceled the auction for the tract of land.

Meruelo told Coyotes staff on Monday that he has no plans to pursue further arena options, Morgan reports.

The Coyotes' assets were sold for $1.2 billion in April in a move that effectively relocated the team to Utah. As part of the transaction, the Arizona franchise was deemed "inactive" by the NHL.

Meruelo has until Dec. 31, 2027, to build 50% of a new arena and inform the league of his intention to reactivate the franchise and trigger an expansion draft.

With the cancelation of the land auction, Meruelo doesn't see a viable option to meet the parameters of the reactivation clause, Morgan reports.

The Coyotes played the past two seasons at Arizona State University's Mullett Arena, which has a capacity of 4,600.

Meruelo still owns the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners. The team had initially been scheduled to play six games at Mullett Arena next season, but the Roadrunners announced Monday that those games have been moved back to Tucson.

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The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 on Monday to claim the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Sam Reinhart netted the eventual game-winner in the second period. Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves.

Oilers superstar Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

The Panthers took the first three contests of the Cup Final. Edmonton battled back to force Game 7, becoming the third team in NHL history to do so in the Cup Final after facing a 3-0 deficit.

"Kind of your worst nightmare when you lose Game 6," Aaron Ekblad told Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskas. "You kind of mourn it for a night, and then you gotta get back on the horse. We got some great leadership in that room that turned it around and found a way to get it done tonight."

Matthew Tkachuk's acquisition in 2022 transformed the Panthers. The former Calgary Flame gave his Alberta fans a nod in victory.

"Shoutout to my fans in Calgary. You know I couldn't let Edmonton win," Tkachuk told Bukauskas.

Aleksander Barkov is the first Finnish captain to win the Stanley Cup.

"It's incredible to see how hard everyone worked for this moment," Barkov told Bukauskas. "And now, there is no more games tomorrow."

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice moves to 5-0 in Game 7s in his coaching career. It's the first Stanley Cup for the veteran bench boss, who's coached almost 2,000 NHL games in the regular season and playoffs.

"It's not what I thought it would be. It's so much better," Maurice told Bukauskas. "But it's the hugs, man. I saw Sam Bennett smile today, first time in two years. It's brilliant."

Among those in the Panthers' front office to win the Cup is Hall of Fame goaltender Roberto Luongo, who didn't win the trophy as a player.

"It doesn't feel real right now," Luongo said, according to Sportsnet's Brendan Batchelor. "Put in a lot of work, whether it was on the ice or off the ice the last few years. We finally got it."

Before the win, Florida was 0-2 in the Cup Final in franchise history, having lost to the Vegas Golden Knights last year and the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.

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Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid was voted the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday night.

McDavid is just the second skater and sixth player to win the honor as a member of the losing side and the first since goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere in 2003.

The superstar was an undeniable force in these playoffs, ending the spring with 42 points in 25 games - just five points short of Wayne Gretzky's record for the most all time in a single postseason.

Speaking of the Great One, McDavid broke Gretzky's benchmark for the most assists in one playoff with a whopping 34 helpers.

McDavid became the third player to record at least 40 points in one postseason, joining Gretzky (1985, 1988, 1993) and Mario Lemieux (1991).

The 27-year-old also became the first skater to record back-to-back four-point outings in the Stanley Cup Final as he helped the Oilers stave off elimination in Games 4 and 5 against the Florida Panthers.

He produced 12 multi-point outings this spring and was held off the scoresheet seven times, including in Games 6 and 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Edmonton selected McDavid with the first overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft.

The winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy is selected by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.

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