Down goes Seksi! Down goes Seksi!
For the love of Pearl, what has Andrej Sekera done to piss off the hockey gods? He’s done his Achilles in and another season is lost for him and now the Oilers are down to 5 proper NHL dmen.
6-9 months to recover from an Achilles tendon tear I guess and up to two years before things are back to “normal”… Unless you’re Erik Karlsson then time is only a construct for you…
Last season Chiarelli knew Sekera was out for several months & didn't do anything about it really (and admitted it in offseason). Surely to gawd he's not going to pin his hopes now to a 19 yr old rookie. He has some Cap flexibility now it sounds like. What should he do?
— ☘️🏒SPR 🏒☘️ (@TheOilKnight) August 14, 2018
SPR isn’t wrong. So what are the options for the Oilers?
- Trade
- Promote from within
- Sign a free agent
- Do nothing
That 4th one is a doozy but not out of the realm of possibility. Let’s look at the options and has things out.
Just before we get into it, I’ve read that Sekera has to be out 10 games in order for LTIR to kick in. If that is true, does that mean the Oilers would have to carry his salary for the first 10 games of the year before they could make a notable roster transaction?
How do teams like Detroit and Arizona get away with it every year if that’s the case? Aren’t their players (Hossa/Franzen for example) on LTIR from the get go?
TRADE
The first name that comes to mind is Justin Faulk from Carolina and seeing what they accepted (or were forced to accept depending on who you talk to) for Jeff Skinner has to make you feel optimistic if you’re an Oilers fan but then knowing that Peter Chiarelli is making a pretty big trade will probably bring you back to Earth.
I can’t see PC dealing anything more than draft picks and AHL prospects for Faulk or maybe I should say I’d like to see him use only draft picks and AHL prospects because I could totally see him trading Puljujarvi for Faulk. Which would be a mistake in my opinion. A massive one.
I think that Boston could be another team the Oilers could target for a defenseman. They’ve got EIGHT NHL-ready dmen signed up for 2018/19 and I think they’re looking to move one or two of them.
Torey Krug has been rumored to the Oilers before but I’m going to say that Kevan Miller and Adam McQuaid are the options here. They’re cheaper, a tad older, and of course, Chiarelli has a history with them from his Stanley Cup-winning time in Boston.
Another player I think is available is:
- Radko Gudas (PHI) – has lost his luster a bit since his last suspension but he’s a gritty two-way right-shot dman who contributes everywhere on the ice. I like him and Philly have some prospects coming up that will need TOI.
PROMOTING FROM WITHIN
This option is a bit more tricky and would require the team to roll with the mistakes that young defenders make. Can the Oilers afford to do that this season?
- Joel Persson – The Oilers can recall him from his loan and he’s a right-shot puck-moving defender.
- Evan Bouchard – Highest scoring OHL dman since Ryan Ellis. Has the physical tools to play next year but is he mentally ready? I wouldn’t put him in this spot unless he’s shown he’s 100% ready in all facets of the game.
- Ethan Bear – In a 3rd pairing role with limited TOI, I think Bear would probably be the best option here. I haven’t heard but I can only assume that he’s been upgrading his boots and will be a better skater this season and if that’s the case, I wouldn’t mind seeing him lace ’em up in Edmonton.
- William Lagesson – I think he could be closer to the NHL than most people think. He’s very much in the vein of Niklas Hjalmarsson and I, for one, think the Oilers could use a bit more of that on the back-end.
SIGNING A FREE AGENT
This list could go on forever but here are some notable names that other media types and bloggers have thought up.
- Kevin Bieksa (Bosco)
- Luca Sbisa (Strudwick)
- Slava Voynov (Cloutier)
Jim Matheson has pretty much said every defender who doesn’t have a contract…
Replacing Andrej Sekera. UFA possibilities for #Oilers via @NHLbyMatty: Brandon Davidson, Toby Enstrom, Luca Sbisa, Paul Martin, Jason Garrison, Alexei Emelin, Kevin Bieksa, Kyle Quincey, Cody Franson, Johnny Oduya. What do you think? #NHL pic.twitter.com/cK5pr1Apav
— Edmonton Journal (@EJ_Oilers) August 15, 2018
Of course Cody Franson…
DO NOTHING
This could very well happen if all other options fail to materialize and we shouldn’t put Chiarelli on blast if it does. He’s overpaid for some players and stood pat on others. You wouldn’t want him making a poor trade, would you?
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m confident that Chiarelli can find a solution for Andrej Sekera’s absence. At the year-end avail he more or less said he screwed up by not filling the hole left by Sekera’s knee injury last season and I believe he’ll be a bit more proactive in fixing the problem this year.
Now those that think Evan Bouchard has been gifted a spot on the roster this season, you should take a step back and re-think your position. The Oilers were short on wingers last season and had no problems sending Kailer Yamamoto back to the WHL. This is the same route the should take with Bouchard as well.
I would think that Chiarelli won’t be making a trade though. He’ll get Nurse’s contract signed and then look at some PTO/waiver wire options. If nothing comes up, he’ll make an early season trade.
Either way, the Seks hole will be filled but don’t be surprised if last season was the final time we saw Andrej Sekera in an Oilers uniform.
One ticket to Ference Island please!
