According to our very own Jason Gregor, the Edmonton Oilers have shut down Andrej Sekera for the remaining two games after suffering an injury to his surgically repaired knee in Monday’s game against the Minnesota Wild.

Poor Reggie. As if it wasn’t tough enough that he had to try and come back from ACL surgery at 31 years old but the guy never seemed to catch any breaks either. After coming back from ACL surgery in late December, Sekera never looked fully comfortable on the ice as he was forced to play catchup with the rest of the NHL despite missing training camp, the pre-season, and first few months of the season. When he finally did come back, Sekera’s mobility never got back up to speed and he struggled to regain his form from a season ago. Sekera was noticeably a step behind where he was a year ago and that lack of mobility forced him to adjust his style of play in order to be effective, something that never really materialized.

In 36 games played, Sekera managed only eight assists and averaged only one shot on net per game. I know we lovingly call him the shinpad assassin but to only get a single shot on goal on any given night is not a great look and was certainly not what we’ve come to expect from him. Towards the end of his abbreviated season, Sekera was often playing third pairing minutes and struggled to handle them despite the softer assignments. That’s not the guy we remember. With three more years left on his contract that includes a full no-move clause until year five, the Oilers will have to hope and pray that he can bounce back for next season because it seems like a lock that he’ll be coming back. At $5.5 million per year, the Oilers will need him to perform at a high level because that’s a big ticket to pay for a guy that could barely manage third-pairing minutes.

Needless to say, it’s been a nightmare season for Andrej Sekera and his place within the organization going forward will be an intriguing storyline to follow as we head into the summer and into next year. Considering how many longterm contracts are on the back end, the Oilers likely won’t have much changeover before next season barring a trade or two and so they’ll need Sekera to get back up to form if they have any hope of success. Like I said, based on his contract, I assume Reggie will be back and we’ll have to hope that this offseason will be kinder to him than last year was. Hopefully, he can use the next six months off to get himself back into a good space health-wise and that his robot knee will actually be ready for next season. Gord knows the Oilers will need him.