It looks like Andrej Sekera might be back sooner than expected. According to everyone watching Oilers practice, the veteran defender was on the ice skating with the team today.

THERE HE IS.

Sekera has had a hell of a time with injuries the past few years. He was an absolute rock on Edmonton’s blueline in 2016-17 when they made the playoffs, but an injury suffered against the Anaheim Ducks in the playoffs derailed his 2017-18 season.

He took what appeared to be an innocent hit from Ryan Getzlaf and ended up having to get ACL surgery. The injury kept him out until late December. When Sekera did return, he didn’t look the same and many questioned that he was rushed back. He would end up playing in 36 games while recording just eight points.

Then, this summer, Sekera tore his Achilles while doing off-season training. This was obviously a huge blow not only because Sekera is good, but because it happened in August and there wasn’t any time to find a good replacement for him on the team’s second pairing. Kevin Gravel and Jason Garrison have filled the void by committee thus far, but getting Sekera back would be a huge boost to Edmonton’s blueline.

That said, we really, really don’t want Sekera to be rushed back. We saw what he looked like last season when he came back quickly to help salvage the team’s terrible blueline and he simply wasn’t the same player. Hopefully this time they take it slowly with Sekera and let him come back when he’s at 100 percent.

Jason Gregor offered an update after practice: