Edmonton Oilers: How Sekera’s Injury Affects the Blueline

Edmonton Oilers defenceman Andrej Sekera will be sidelined 6-9 months with a torn ACL, General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced Tuesday.

After he was injured in Game 5 against Anaheim, Sekera did not dress for the rest of the series and was deemed out with a lower-body injury. Now, we understand the severity of the situation.

Edmonton Oilers

With free agency right around the corner, Edmonton now has to make some decisions. They will enter the season without arguably their top defenceman and have to start the season strong. Considering this team hopes to keep making its mark and return to the top of the NHL standings, Edmonton must evaluate their blueline situation this offseason.

Enhancing the Blue Line

First off, they will likely have to sign defencemen in free agency. There are many outstanding names coming onto the market, including Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner, Michael Stone and more. Overall, the team has options, and this should be one of the places where they look to enhance the blue line.

Sekera is a huge loss. Not only is he among the veterans on the team, but he plays a secure game on the backend and also takes care of the puck. He is also able to jump up in the play and adds stability to the top four. Having him gone for months raises the urgency for the team to pick up a top-four blueliner.

By the same token, Kris Russell could also hit the market, and that would take away even more depth. Considering Eric Gryba will likely head to free agency as well, the Oilers have to continue to upgrade their defence corps. They have promising players like Matt Benning and Darnell Nurse, but adding more insurance to the defence only makes the Oilers stronger.

In the end, there is nowhere for the team to go but up. However, if they start the season without Sekera and fail to fill that void, they’ll be in a tough spot.