The Case For Buying Out Andrei Sekera

[Bryanbryoil]

I think you gotta give him next year. Its like the Pouliot buyout this year, what was the point? Unless there is some replacement UFA who is better and cheaper whats the point?

Best case scenario he returns to form of last year and can anchor the 2nd pair, help with the hard minutes which should improve Larssons game.

Mid case scenario he is in between this year and last year, still a good player though overpaid.

Worst case scenario he sucks and this years version is what his game has become. But at least you didnt sell low and gave him a chance. Buy him out next summer if thats the case.

If best case scenario or mid case scenario happens he might also be tradeable and you wouldn't need to buy him out.

I'd rather not buy him out but the bottom line is that he is our most expensive defenseman and we need an offensive defensemen and they usually aren't cheap.

 

[Joey Moss]

Buying out Sekera only makes sense if we spend the cap elsewhere next year. We'd be saving 4M this year and 3M the next two years and I'm not sure how many players out there worth 3-4M on UFA market are better than Sekera. Probably makes more sense to hope he bounces back.

 

[Joey Moss]

We are so screwed in the next expansion draft with Sekera, Lucic and Russell.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

We are so screwed in the next expansion draft with Sekera, Lucic and Russell.

Sekera and Russell will only have one year left when expansion hits. Those kinds of contracts are very buyoutable or tradeable.

 

[Drivesaitl]

In all your years watching hockey you have never heard anyone say if you dont notice a dman thats good?

The idea being they are not making mistakes

I love watching system play and defensive and breakout schemes. So I key on that lots. Sekera does not slot into the typical molds of shutdown D, PMD,. With D that are very good at this you do notice them reversing the puck consistently. Last season Sekera was used differently than his first season here where he struggled. A large part of that of course is the addition of Larsson. But an unmentioned part is how absolutely fantastic Talbot was last season. I watch teams that shut most stuff down, have for years. The Oilers weren't that last year, it was a lot about Talbot. It was also teams not playing us hard enough or exposing our weaknesses because the Oilers generally took the league by surprise last season.

The best description of an efficient D I ever heard here was that Chris Pronger was a "snowball catcher" like you've never seen before (thank you to a great former poster, ReverendOil for that description) You watch Pronger play and its poetry. A drive stopper, a guy that somehow, innately finds ways to stop rush after rush, possession after possession. Just catches everything and always in control. Now comparing any D to Chris Pronger is unfair and I'm not doing that, just that is what D perfection looks like. So that its one end of the range. Pronger would be the 10. In my book Sekera would be a 6 at best last season. Last season the team didn't specifically give him difficult assignments and his Own zone starts were only 50%. In short he wasn't getting the same responsibilities as someone like Larsson who is clearly a better D in every aspect.

But it is possible that my view of Sekera is skewed by generally poor play in his first season and awful play this season. Of particular concern is that a player that was brought in for some offensive savvy is supporting 1.3EVGF/60mins this season. A figure that is comically bad considering the team has elite players like McD and Draisaitl to play with. The only player with worse on ice GF is Pakarinen and its the one stat that keeps him being scratched. But Paks defensive numbers and pk are at least stellar. Its what gets him rotated in. Sekera's numbers this season are consistent with shouldn't even be playing.

Note I am NOT in favor of buyout I just would have wanted somebody different signed instead of Sekera who has never been the D we needed. In short we traded Hall for Larsson partly because Sekera didn't address the needs that Chia thought he might. Sekera hasn't even been serviceable as part of a shutdown pair the vast majority of his time here.

 

[BigFuzzyDice]

Buffet Bob on 630 just confirmed he re-tweaked the repaired leg. Could be a bad sign. Shoulda just LTIr'd him once the season was lost instead of having him playing on half a lower body

 

[Joey Moss]

Looks like Sekera has re-tweaked his knee.. Pretty sure if he's injured he can't be bought out anyways.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Buffet Bob on 630 just confirmed he re-tweaked the repaired leg. Could be a bad sign. Shoulda just LTIr'd him once the season was lost instead of having him playing on half a lower body

While I agree the prognosis stated for recovery post op was 6-9mths and he had the surgery immediately in early May. A Christmas 2017 return was consistent with that time frame. Approx 7-8mths AND playing with a brace.

In fairness to the org at that time the playoff possibilities and salvaging season were still real. The Oilers had made some headway in getting back to where they needed to be and so looking at this months later and rethinking it is revisionist.

Thing is if the Oilers shelve Sekera for longer than the time frame of injury neither the fans, or Sekera, are likely happy. So that you can't win.



Only thing to deduce is that serious knee injuries are always bad news and more so for +30 players. Its just unfortunate. No blame on this one imo.

 

[Jumptheshark]

with the logic here I can put together a thread titled "Case for trading McDAvid"

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

with the logic here I can put together a thread titled "Case for trading McDAvid"

In my mind it has more to do with the lack of flexibility than Sekera's level of play, not that it hasn't been bad this year.

Someone has to be moved from the defense. The question is who?

 

[Jamin]

I love watching system play and defensive and breakout schemes. So I key on that lots. Sekera does not slot into the typical molds of shutdown D, PMD,. With D that are very good at this you do notice them reversing the puck consistently. Last season Sekera was used differently than his first season here where he struggled. A large part of that of course is the addition of Larsson. But an unmentioned part is how absolutely fantastic Talbot was last season. I watch teams that shut most stuff down, have for years. The Oilers weren't that last year, it was a lot about Talbot. It was also teams not playing us hard enough or exposing our weaknesses because the Oilers generally took the league by surprise last season.

The best description of an efficient D I ever heard here was that Chris Pronger was a "snowball catcher" like you've never seen before (thank you to a great former poster, ReverendOil for that description) You watch Pronger play and its poetry. A drive stopper, a guy that somehow, innately finds ways to stop rush after rush, possession after possession. Just catches everything and always in control. Now comparing any D to Chris Pronger is unfair and I'm not doing that, just that is what D perfection looks like. So that its one end of the range. Pronger would be the 10. In my book Sekera would be a 6 at best last season. Last season the team didn't specifically give him difficult assignments and his Own zone starts were only 50%. In short he wasn't getting the same responsibilities as someone like Larsson who is clearly a better D in every aspect.

But it is possible that my view of Sekera is skewed by generally poor play in his first season and awful play this season. Of particular concern is that a player that was brought in for some offensive savvy is supporting 1.3EVGF/60mins this season. A figure that is comically bad considering the team has elite players like McD and Draisaitl to play with. The only player with worse on ice GF is Pakarinen and its the one stat that keeps him being scratched. But Paks defensive numbers and pk are at least stellar. Its what gets him rotated in. Sekera's numbers this season are consistent with shouldn't even be playing.

Note I am NOT in favor of buyout I just would have wanted somebody different signed instead of Sekera who has never been the D we needed. In short we traded Hall for Larsson partly because Sekera didn't address the needs that Chia thought he might. Sekera hasn't even been serviceable as part of a shutdown pair the vast majority of his time here.

Could you imagine Pronger's breakout passes hitting mcdavid in stride? He would prob be at 120 points.

As much as the trade request sullied his legacy heere Ive always loved Pronger, most people pick Lidstrom but give me Pronger

 

[MessierII]

So now he’s re injured his knee right before the end of the season. Why the hell was he playing again?

 

[McFlash97]

Buying out Sekera only makes sense if we spend the cap elsewhere next year. We'd be saving 4M this year and 3M the next two years and I'm not sure how many players out there worth 3-4M on UFA market are better than Sekera. Probably makes more sense to hope he bounces back.

you want me to name 4 million dollar players better then Sekera is moving forward ? do you have a few days ? I can name 10 of the top of my head without blinking. 5.5 million 50 % aging Sekera is not very good. Will he ever get back to pre injury Sekera. Most likely not. He is 32 not 22 coming off a serious injury. Just not worth that type of change. Oilers cannot throw away next season by testing the waters on him. If he is still struggling we are screwed in the first few weeks. We need a solid backend heading into next season.

 

[VainGretzky]

If his knee is thair all eason and free up another 5.4 cap spacet screwed again next season , might be a blessing , he can be put on LTIR all season and it free's up another 5.5 million cap space

 

[Mr Positive]

you want me to name 4 million dollar players better then Sekera is moving forward ? do you have a few days ? I can name 10 of the top of my head without blinking. 5.5 million 50 % aging Sekera is not very good. Will he ever get back to pre injury Sekera. Most likely not. He is 32 not 22 coming off a serious injury. Just not worth that type of change. Oilers cannot throw away next season by testing the waters on him. If he is still struggling we are screwed in the first few weeks. We need a solid backend heading into next season.

I doubt some great top 4 D are available this summer. Not without overpayment.

To me it seems likely that Sekera will recover his play. Modern recovery methods are effective, and he's had so much time. Keeping Sekera could be critical to having a strong defense next season.

The only real UFA option out there is Green. I'd say try to keep Sekera and sign Green. Getting Green depends on some factors, like him wanting to be here, and him not wanting a crazy cap number.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Yikes, I hope that the tweak doesn't require surgery. As VG said if we can LTIR it might help us a lot. If not and returns just as bad or worse than this season then we are ****ed.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

We are so screwed in the next expansion draft with Sekera, Lucic and Russell.

I believe the NMC for Sekera and Russell are modified and the contracts can be moved by then. Lucic is 2021 I think. Either way I am guessing that 2 of those 3 if not all 3 are gone by the expansion draft.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Yikes, I hope that the tweak doesn't require surgery. As VG said if we can LTIR it might help us a lot. If not and returns just as bad or worse than this season then we are ****ed.

If that knee goes full blown wonky he might be a future LTIR candidate and get put on whatever island the Leafs put their bad contract "injured" players on for several seasons on end. I believe injured players do not get their contracts hit by escrow if they are insured so there is incentive for the player to take an LTIR situation. I know NHL players on one way deals sent to the minors are not impacted by escrow, which makes a huge difference to the players take home pay.

 

[shoop]

We are so screwed in the next expansion draft with Sekera, Lucic and Russell.

Expanstion draft is two years away at the earliest and the rules haven't been set yet.

 

[SomeDudeOTI]

Expanstion draft is two years away at the earliest and the rules haven't been set yet.

Bettman has said it will be the same

 

[frag2]

Like I said, he's now made of glass. Puck hits him anywhere and he's out of the game.

 

[CycloneSweep]

No buyout. Just find a team he is willing to waive for and hopefully not have to retain.

 

[Supermassive]

Like I said, he's now made of glass. Puck hits him anywhere and he's out of the game.

Like the face?

 

[frag2]

Like the face?

He's one hit away. Anything physical it seems takes him out for portions of the game. I'm not even counting that side of face incident.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

No buyout. Just find a team he is willing to waive for and hopefully not have to retain.

Who would want him at his full cap hit?