Sportsnet: Frank Seravalli on the Edmonton Oilers resurgence and who is the top NHL team in Canada right now.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Jesse Fuchs: “Now out West, the Oilers did lose Thursday, kind of ruined the narrative a little bit, but we know they’ve been red hot. Are we ready to say they’re officially back or not yet?
Seravalli: “Not only are they back but they’re cooking with gas. And look, it’s not just their power play. It’s not just Connor McDavid back to doing Connor McDavid-like things. Stewart Skinner finding his game. I mean, you consider how good this Oilers offense has been.
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Do you know the last time that Edmonton lost the high-danger chance battle and a game to an opponent? You’d have to go way back to November 20th in Florida. They’ve been that good for this long of a stretch. So they’re back.
And I think what even enables me to take that a step further, is how well they’ve played defensively. How quiet things have been in their own end and really how simple the game has been not just under Chris Knobloch behind the bench, but I love what Paul Coffey has bought, brought to this Defense Corps. It’s really been a lot more efficient than it was it to start the season.
Fuchs: “Okay, Frank, I like that. So how cooking are they? Have they done enough to reclaim best team in Canada tag from the Canucks?
Seravalli: “You know, I’ve wrestled with this answer for a long time because I was thinking about going in a different direction and saying, you know what, it’s not the Canucks that are the team to beat in the, in Canada. For me, it might be the Winnipeg Jets but then I’m going to take a step back and say, ‘when it’s all said and done and don’t get caught up Frank in the here and now of what’s happened so far to start this season.’ How hot the Canucks were, the Jets were leading the Central Division for a stretch of time, but when it’s time to enter the playoffs, and you’ve got a battle-tested team in Edmonton that’s won in the last few rounds the last few years. Basically, what they end up going into the playoffs with is a hardened edge to them based on what they’ve been through this season.
And we’ve seen time and time again over the last 10 to 15 years in the NHL, with rare exceptions, the teams with the stars, the superduper stars, are the ones that end up hoisting the Stanley Cup more often than not at the end.
So my edge right now and probably for the rest of the season, unless we see something drastically different out of Toronto, is probably going to be the Edmonton Oilers being the team to be among the Canadian seven.