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When the Los Angeles Kings landed Andrej Sekera at the trade deadline this year, they acquired a pending free agent they hoped would carry them into the playoffs. That latter obviously wasn’t the case, as the reigning champs missed out on the postseason entirely, and now the Kings are gauging Sekera’s interest in staying with the team. According to recent reports, the camps have begun preliminary talks about an extension and could have him re-signed before free agency opens in July.
The Kings enter the offseason with two glaring hole on their blue line before Sekera even enters the equation. The first is the uncertain future of Slava Voynov, who still has assault charges pending from a domestic violence incident in October that saw him miss almost the entire season. The team will also have to deal with the retirement of veteran Robyn Regehr, who despite having lost a step still played vital minutes on defense over the last two years. With the loss of these two former Stanley Cup champions, the need to keep Sekera is more important than ever.
Having said that, the team is on the verge of salary cap hell with Tyler Toffoli owed a new deal, as well as the longshot of the team keeping Justin Williams coming to fruition. Market value for a player like Sekera is around $25 million over five years, along the same lines of the deal Matt Niskanen got last year from the Washington Capitals. If the Kings can convince Sekera to take a little less than the market value to stay around like Marian Gaborik did last year, then they’re in decent shape.
Whatever happens, the team has to look at Sekera as a puzzle piece — an important piece, but not a life or death part. Keeping Sekera is important to the team’s success, but his value is not to the point of losing a great young player like Toffoli. This game of salary cap roulette isn’t easy, but it’s a necessity of having a great team. That’s a swap the Kings will surely take.
