Breaking: Oilers demote veteran Sekera to AHL

The Edmonton Oilers have announced that veteran defenseman Andrej Sekera has been demoted to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.

Technically the 32 year old Sekera will report to the Condors on a conditioning stint, but to anyone who knows the Oilers cap situation, this is really a desperation move from a team looking to squeeze every last cent of cap relief they’re entitled to.

The Oilers have just $51,000 available in cap space according to CapFriendly.com and the Sekera demotion grants them a little more time to decide how they intend to manoeuvre the cap ahead of the NHL’s February 25th trade deadline. No doubt the team would love to rid themselves of highly paid and underperforming players like Milan Lucic, Ryan Spooner, Kris Russell and Cam Talbot, but that’s easier said than done.

With Sekera and his $5.5 million cap hit buried in the minors for a maximum of one week, the Oilers have a bit of time to make something happen on the trade market. The problem is, any deal involving the above mentioned players would likely require another overpriced contract coming back to the team.