"Canadians" ... I think you mean Maple Leaf fans.... Oiler, Flames, Jets or Senator fans don't think that way... we actually state the opposite... nor do I see it much from Canadien or Canuck fans... please don't lump us all in together.
As an Edmontonian, I only hope and pray we can use the hometown piece as an advantage to keep or attract a useful NHLer... by no means do most of us feel Edmonton is the go-to market, even with McDavid and Draisaitl. The Oilers are for players who might sign 1 year deals to pad their stats playing with them and then use it to leverage a bigger payday... I was hoping we weren't the team stupid enough to fall for this, yet our management is so smart... here you go...
- Chiasson (13th forward, 1 yr @ $650K AAV), career year playing with McDavid... Chiarelli signs him for 2 years @ $2.15 AAV, the next 2 seasons they play him on the 4th line and he sucks.
- Kassian (3rd line talent, 1 year @ $870K cap hit AAV), career year playing with McDavid and Draisaitl... Ken Holland signs him for 4 years @ 3.2AAV, he has sucked ever since he signed that contract.
- Barrie (3rd pairing Dman and PP specialist, $3.75M cap hit AAV), career year playing with McDavid and Draisaitl on the best PP the league has seen in 30 years in a anomaly season where they had the North division... Holland signs him for 3 years @ $4.5m AAV.
- Kane... well the Oilers won't have the cap space for what he'll be looking for... even though he would be the best talent of all of these players, he comes with other issues. I wouldn't want my team to sign him for more than 2 years on this next contract.
Most Edmontonian NHLers (and this applies to all NHLers) would pick elsewhere to play for so many reasons (in no particular order); income tax implications, weather, lifestyle, city dynamics, NHL travel, media, fishbowl effect, poor team management.
We did attract/"steal" Justin Shultz (Western Canadian), from the NCAA but that was in the early stages of McDavid/Draisaitl when most people thought there some promise for the Oilers franchise. Moving forward, I don't see high profile Western Canadian NCAA players or Edmontonian NHLers choosing the Oilers as their preferred landing spot.
If the Oilers ever do attract a "useful" (I say that lightly with some of the recent UFAs) NHLers as a FA or extend a pending UFA... they get bent over every single time. Players come to the Edmonton Oilers because we overpay... that's the only reason.
