Oilers Buyout Andrej Sekera

The Edmonton Oilers announced on Sunday morning that they bought out the contract of defenceman Andrej Sekera.

Sekera had two more season of a 5.5 million cap-hit left on his contract. With the buyout, his cap hit looks like this:

2019-20: 3mil

2020-21: 3mil

2021-22: 1.5mil

2022-23: 1.5mil

This allows the Oilers to open up 3 million dollars in cap-space ahead of Monday’s Free Agent Frenzy, where it is believed Ken Holland will be busy.

The Oilers now have 11.3 million dollars to play with.

It also allows the club to promote a defenceman from Bakersfield to the big team next season. The most likely candidate remains Caleb Jones, but names like Joel Persson, Ethan Bear, William Lagesson, and Evan Bouchard will be in the running to take over the spot

Sekera arrived in Edmonton on July 1st, 2015 when Peter Chiarelli signed the Slovak to a 6-year deal worth 33 million dollars. His first season in Edmonton was a rocky one but, as the team improved, Sekera proved to be a reliable defender in all 3 zones.

Sekera’s biggest impact on the team undoubtedly came in his second season with the Oilers, when he became an anchor for the defense group that got Edmonton into the playoffs. Reggie was a key part of that playoff team and is one of the reasons why they made it as far as they did in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, Sekera suffered a torn ACL at the hands of Ryan Getzlaf in the second round series against Anaheim. This would be the beginning of the end for Sekera in Edmonton.

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I will Andrej in an Oilers uniform. He was a great player who did a lot for the team in his short time in Edmonton. Injuries are an uncontrollable part of the game and Sekera got the wrong end of the stick.

We’ll miss ya Reggie!