Two questions dominate Edmonton hockey talk: Can the Edmonton Oilers retain them? And can they retain them on Stanley Cup-friendly contracts?

They key to these negotiations, as I see it, is that it not be oppositional, but instead both sides coming together to realize their deep and meaningful shared interest in winning the Stanley Cup, while treating both McDavid and Draisaitl fairly given their place on the team.

That is the win-win.

As per the NHL and NHL players’ association’s collective bargaining agreement, the two players will be free if they do not sign in Edmonton to go to any other NHL city at a maximum term of seven years and a maximum payment of 20 per cent of the salary cap.

I’ll suggest right now that if money is the top priority for either player, they will be able to get that 20 per cent bid from another team. It’s possible that Edmonton itself also would be able to give each player that 20 per cent contract on an eight-year term, though paying 40 per cent of the cap to any two players would likely doom any team’s Stanley Cup chances.

My point?

Edmonton has no obvious hammer in these contract negotiations. Draisaitl and McDavid are free to do what they will. After 11 seasons in Edmonton, the two players will be the full masters of their own destinies, the captains of their own ships.

It’s their negotiated right and I can see no reason why anyone should begrudge them that right, agreed?

The lure of Stanley Cup-friendly contracts

The conundrum for the Oilers is that if they pay Draisaitl and McDavid that full 20 per cent — as both players arguably merit at this point in their careers — the Oilers won’t be able to retain other top players in coming years, young players who need new deals like Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg, Stuart Skinner, and Dylan Holloway, not to mention vets like Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, and Brett Kulak, should those players be deemed as essential parts of Edmonton’s Stanley Cup aspirations.