A silver lining — or salt in the wound — of the Edmonton Oilers coming up short against the Florida Panthers in Game 7 on Monday is that St. Albert's own Josh Mahura is now a Stanley Cup champion.
Mahura, a 26-year-old defenceman, has 191 career NHL regular season games under his belt but was a healthy scratch for the Panther's entire playoff run. He last played on April 16 in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
That didn't stop him from joining his teammates on the ice to take part in the celebration on Monday though, as Mahura appeared in full equipment to take his turn lifting the cup.
In all, the former St. Albert Raider appeared in 30 games for the Panthers in the 2023-2024 season, tallying nine assists, although he did miss more than a month of action due to an injury in November.
Mahura's 30 regular season games played this year might not actually be enough to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup, as the NHL stipulates that a player must appear in at least half of a team's regular season contests (41) or play in at least one Stanley Cup Final game, although the team can petition league commissioner Gary Bettman to argue Mahura's injury was an extenuating circumstance.
Last year Mahura played in all 82 regular season games for the Panthers, as well as all 21 playoff games the team had before losing to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. He registered three assists in last year's playoff run.
Mahura has 10 career regular season goals and 35 assists. Prior to playing for the Panthers Mahura played for the Anaheim Ducks for parts of four seasons.
The Ducks drafted Mahura in the third round, 85th overall, in the 2016 NHL entry draft.
Mahura is a free agent heading into the 2024-2025 season.
