FINISHING IN FIRST BIG EDGE IN NORTH

Leafs want to avoid having to face both Oilers and Jets just to get out of division

Who would you take in a seven-game series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets?

Actually, make that a six-game series.

Now that the Leafs are done playing the Edmonton Oilers for the rest of the regular season — and came out of it with a 6-1-2 head-to-head record — it's time to shift the attention to the other team occupying space in Toronto's rear-view mirror.

The first-place Leafs, who play in Winnipeg on Wednesday and Friday, have a half dozen games remaining against the second-place Jets.

For fans, it's yet another playoff preview, a chance to see how the top two teams in Canada match up against one another. For the Leafs, it's more than that. It's a chance to hang on to the top spot in the North Division and put some more distance between themselves and a team that's just one point back of them in the standings.

Toronto has 47 points. Winnipeg, which has played one more game, has 46 points. Edmonton, which has also played one more game than Toronto, has 45 points.

In other words, the division is still up for grabs. And it could be decided by these next six games.

Whoever finishes first will gain home-ice advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Normally, that's huge. But in a year where fans aren't allowed inside the arena, where you play is far less important than who you will play.

And if you're the Leafs, you would much rather not have to play Winnipeg or Edmonton — at least, not until the second round.

Forget about the bragging rights of being the best in Canada. Delaying the inevitable should be the goal right now.

This isn't unlike a year ago, when Toronto was in the Atlantic Division with Tampa Bay and Boston. Only the Leafs have now become the Lightning and the Jets and Oilers are the Bruins and Leafs, respectively. Any path to the final probably means having to go through Winnipeg or Edmonton. But if you finish first, then you have to face only one of those teams — not both. Instead, you'll get the B-listers. Finish first and you won't have to worry about shutting down Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl or figuring out how to score against Connor Hellebuyck. That's a problem for another day.

We're three months into this shortened season and we're finally starting to see some separation in the standings. The top three teams are in a class by themselves. Any one of them looks like they could compete for a Stanley Cup. The others look like they could be primed for a rebuild.

Finish first and you might get the fourth-seeded Montreal Canadiens, who after cramming in their final 25 games in 43 days could be exhausted by the time the playoffs begin. Or perhaps the Calgary Flames, who are 5-6-0 since Darryl Sutter stepped behind the bench, will put it all together and sneak into fourth place. Or maybe a Vancouver Canucks team that can't decide if they're buying or selling at the deadline will go on another hot streak.

As good as the Leafs have looked this season, you still don't want to make life difficult on yourself by playing Winnipeg or Edmonton. As we saw in Monday's 3-2 overtime loss, the Oilers aren't just about McDavid and Draisaitl trying to outscore the opposition. This is a mature team. They're deeper than ever, particularly on defence and in goal, where Mike Smith has stabilized the position.

As for Winnipeg, I'd put Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois against Auston Matthews and John Tavares and I might give the Jets' wingers a slight edge over the Leafs' top six. I'd definitely give Winnipeg's goaltending the advantage.

And if GM Kevin Cheveldayoff can acquire a defenceman such as David Savard or Mattias Ekholm at the trade deadline, Winnipeg could be Canada's best bet to win the Stanley Cup.

But let's see where we're at by the end of the week. Toronto, which split its first four games against Winnipeg this year, might have a five-point cushion on them by then. Or maybe it will be the other way around.

Either way, with 21 games remaining, the race for first place is about to get underway.