At the height of his hockey career after winning the Stanley Cup last year with the Florida Panthers, Matthew Tkachuk had a message for Connor McDavid at the Edmonton Oilers captain's lowest point of his career in the handshake line immediately following Game 7.

“We’re gonna see you again next year in it,” Tkachuk said.

McDavid did not think much of it at the time. Sitting with a larger-than-life photo of Tkachuk raising the Cup over his left shoulder Tuesday on the eve of the rematch, he found it “funny to look back on how it’s worked out.”

“Two good teams then, two good teams now,” McDavid said. “Let’s get after it.”

The Panthers and Oilers meet again in the Stanley Cup Final that begins with Game 1 Wednesday night in Edmonton looking like two NHL powerhouses on a collision course.

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