<p>The Edmonton Oilers have been among the National Hockey League&#8217;s busiest teams thus far in the 2024 offseason, bringing in the likes of Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson in unrestricted free agency while also retaining virtually all of their own pending UFAs.</p>
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<p>Of course, the Oilers are just a few weeks removed from making it within one game of their first Stanley Cup championship in 34 years, and that seems to have had a significant effect on players deciding whether to come to Edmonton or not.</p>
<p>On Wednesday&#8217;s edition of <em>OilersNation Everyday</em>, former NHL defenceman Colby Cohen joined Tyler Yaremchuk to discuss the changing attitudes from around the league toward Edmonton as a destination for players.</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Tyler Yaremchuk: </strong>I wanted to ask you a little bit about what you thought of the Oilers&#8217; offseason, because even though it&#8217;s only been two-and-a-half weeks since they lost Game 7, optimism is high right now around Edmonton. Is it a homer take to say the Oilers are looking like a wagon after what they did in the first 10 days of the offseason?</p>
<p><strong>Colby Cohen: </strong>No, not at all. And you know I texted you and was texting you every time Jeff Jackson wrote a cheque or made a deal as he was just wheeling and dealing. And, you know, look. We don&#8217;t need to go player for player, because everyone already knows. But what this should really do for fans in Edmonton is make them realize that, I think the Edmonton Oilers are becoming a destination. And I gotta tell you something: I&#8217;ve had good friends that have gone into free agency over the last 10 years, and Edmonton, I&#8217;m not gonna throw any names out there, but let&#8217;s talk about a right-shot power play defenceman who was a big-name free agent five years ago, who, Edmonton came to him, offered him a seven-year contract, offered him top-of-the-market money, and he didn&#8217;t go. He went to his hometown team, took a discount, whatever, because guys didn&#8217;t want to go. There was a stigma, like there is in Winnipeg, right? For an American player or a guy from the east coast or whatever. I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s there anymore, because I think Connor McDavid — and more than Connor McDavid and Draisaitl, they get a lot of credit. But I think the atmosphere in which the Edmonton Oilers and their fans showed up with during the playoffs, I think, really opened a lot of people&#8217;s eyes.</p></blockquote>
<p><em>Watch the full episode here:</em></p>
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Colby Cohen says Edmonton has become a destination for free agents" width="1424" height="801" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/menDK6G4f40?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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The Edmonton Oilers have been among the National Hockey League's busiest teams thus far in the 2024 offseason, bringing in the likes of Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson in unrestricted free agency while also retaining virtually all of their own pending UFAs.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2107" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="325"></div>
Of course, the Oilers are just a few weeks removed from making it within one game of their first Stanley Cup championship in 34 years, and that seems to have had a significant effect on players deciding whether to come to Edmonton or not.

On Wednesday's edition of <em>OilersNation Everyday</em>, former NHL defenceman Colby Cohen joined Tyler Yaremchuk to discuss the changing attitudes from around the league toward Edmonton as a destination for players.
<blockquote><strong>Tyler Yaremchuk: </strong>I wanted to ask you a little bit about what you thought of the Oilers' offseason, because even though it's only been two-and-a-half weeks since they lost Game 7, optimism is high right now around Edmonton. Is it a homer take to say the Oilers are looking like a wagon after what they did in the first 10 days of the offseason?

<strong>Colby Cohen: </strong>No, not at all. And you know I texted you and was texting you every time Jeff Jackson wrote a cheque or made a deal as he was just wheeling and dealing. And, you know, look. We don't need to go player for player, because everyone already knows. But what this should really do for fans in Edmonton is make them realize that, I think the Edmonton Oilers are becoming a destination. And I gotta tell you something: I've had good friends that have gone into free agency over the last 10 years, and Edmonton, I'm not gonna throw any names out there, but let's talk about a right-shot power play defenceman who was a big-name free agent five years ago, who, Edmonton came to him, offered him a seven-year contract, offered him top-of-the-market money, and he didn't go. He went to his hometown team, took a discount, whatever, because guys didn't want to go. There was a stigma, like there is in Winnipeg, right? For an American player or a guy from the east coast or whatever. I don't think that's there anymore, because I think Connor McDavid — and more than Connor McDavid and Draisaitl, they get a lot of credit. But I think the atmosphere in which the Edmonton Oilers and their fans showed up with during the playoffs, I think, really opened a lot of people's eyes.</blockquote>
<em>Watch the full episode here:</em>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=menDK6G4f40
<h2><strong>SPONSORED BY bet365</strong></h2>
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Cohen: Edmonton has become a destination for unrestricted free agents

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