The sound of skate blades meeting ice echoed through Rogers Place on Thursday as Rookie camp got underway to officially open the gates on a new season for the Edmonton Oilers.

But the shadow hanging over the organization continues to grow darker every day that passes with Connor McDavid heading into the final year of his contract.

At this point, you almost have to ask, what’s the holdup? Why has no extension been signed? What could he possibly be holding out for?

It’s gone from something fans went from assuming to be a simple housekeeping matter that would be taken care of early in the off-season, to an all-consuming concern to sweat over.

I mean, this couldn’t possibly be McDavid’s final season playing for an Oilers team he’s become synonymous with. Could it?

The mere thought of him wearing any different colours than blue and orange borders on sacrilege in a city where each time you take to the street, chances are you’ll see a flag flying from a vehicle, year-round.

I’d say it’s nigh unimaginable to think of an Oilers team without the best player on the planet at the helm, but there is a certain segment of the fan base that, for 37 years now, holds a moment of silence every Aug. 9. Except, maybe, for the odd whimper.

And they sure didn’t promise ‘Mess’ they wouldn’t do this.

So, forgive them if they have a box of Kleenex close by at the thought of the black clouds that are forming one day turning into the sky falling once again in Edmonton.

But what good reason might McDavid possibly have for putting them through all this?

IS IT THE MONEY?

Puh-leeease … if anyone can write their own ticket in the NHL, it’s McDavid. This is less of a contract negotiation and more about the player dictating the exact terms of a new deal to the team. (Whatever team he so chooses, in fact).

McDavid has said whatever deal he signs has to be right for the team, himself and his family.

Ten years into a professional career as the best around — the next best NHL player who’s come close to the quadruple digit points McDavid’s put up is a teammate he’s helped propel — you’d have to think his family is pretty secure, financially. Heck, with a net worth Sports Illustrated estimates at $30 million (that’s US dollars, folks), how many generations of future McDavids is he hoping to pamper?

Of course, it could all be financial gymnastics and the strategy could be signing for a short term now in order to cash in a couple years down the road, when the NHL’s streaming deal with DAZN leads to a third straight season of increases to the salary cap.

Maybe McDavid’s moving chess pieces to simply maximize his return. You couldn’t blame him. But again, it doesn’t account for why at least a bridge deal hasn’t been put in place by now.

IS IT HIS LEGACY?

If money’s not the issue, then could building a legacy be McDavid’s main motivation when it comes to his future with the Oilers?

There isn’t an individual accomplishment left for McDavid to aspire to when it comes to the hardware he’s piled up on his mantle, from international gold medals to a Conn Smythe, a Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard, Ted Lindsays, Hart Memorials and an Art Ross or five. He’s been there, done that better than anyone in his era (if not beyond).

Of course, the one thing missing on his already impressive resume is in the big blank space at the top reserved for the Stanley Cup championship. And having his Oilers fall just short of that mark each of these past two seasons doesn’t make things any easier.

He needs one. And he knows it. It’s the one thing that would cement his legacy alongside hockey’s greats.

That being said, is the whole point here to hold the Oilers’ proverbial feet to the flames by holding out to send a message to management that the rest of the roster needs to get up to snuff?

He can’t do it alone, so …

IS IT THE TEAM?

They’ve already provided McDavid with the next best thing to himself. That aforementioned teammate, Leon Draisaitl, is arguably the second-best player in the world. At least, his numbers over the past 10 years would indicate as much.

And therein lies the problem. With Draisaitl heading into the first season of his own extension he signed a year ago (for an NHL record $14 million average annual value, no less), the Oilers’ salary cap situation already finds itself as top-heavy as it gets even before McDavid puts pen to paper again.

It goes without saying that puts management in a bind when it comes to signing a supporting cast to round out the roster. Especially when the expectations are coming from the ones who set the highest bar.

No one’s saying Draisaitl and McDavid aren’t worth it, or there aren’t any other teams that would gladly sell their souls for the chance to pay them more, but the extra however-many-million those two chew up together could go a long way toward filling in a big hole or two elsewhere in the lineup — including the crease, should they so choose.

In that sense, McDavid is only shooting himself in the foot in the journey toward his ultimate goal by signing a new contract.

And maybe that’s why it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe the entirety of his being is bent on turning Strikes 1 and 2 into a home run this season, and everything else — yes, even the future of his own livelihood — has to wait on deck for now.

It’s Stanley Cup or nothing, and to him, maybe all this business-side stuff is the distraction.

G-MAN’S TAKE

If I’m McDavid, realizing full well the championship window is fast closing and the Oilers cupboards are all but bare, I would make sure to avoid this becoming any sort of distraction and sign at least some sort of extension before the puck drops on the regular season Oct. 8.

After coming up just a handful of wins short of hoisting what could have been two Stanley Cups these last two years shows just how small the margin for error is at the top of the NHL’s food chain, and the focus needs to be entirely on winning right from Day 1.

And here’s the kicker: I do it for less than Draisaitl’s making a year. You know, just in case the cape wasn’t already big enough on image Edmontonians have of their hockey hero.

Nothing would put the team — and by effect, the fans — first than that selfless act.

He would hardly be the first NHL superstar to take one for the team. Looking back one generational talent earlier, there has never been any real worry about Sidney Crosby ever leaving the Pittsburgh Penguins. Especially in the prime of his career. He’s too busy shining three Stanley Cup rings to bother counting the $43 million or so he’s been estimated to have left on the table in favour of signing team-friendly deals.

And it’s not just hockey, either. Tom Brady’s statue towering over the plaza outside Gillette Stadium might never get tarnished. And who can forget the splash the Miami Heat made with the Big 3 (or the Splash Brother in Golden State, while we’re at it)?

The point is, there’s a way to get the job done. In Edmonton. That doesn’t involve waiting around, mind games or excuses.

So, get it done already.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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