According to the Oilers’ official Twitter account, the organization has assigned Andrej Sekera to the Bakersfield Condors for a conditioning stint. 

After tearing his Achilles tendon before training camp started, no one was sure what was to come from the 32-year-old defenceman. If I’m being honest, I was actually expecting to make it through the full season without even seeing him. I mean, the guy has been through a lot, ya know? As I’m sure you all remember, Sekera suffered an ACL injury in the playoffs against the Ducks in 2017 and never really looked the same when he came back to the lineup in January of last year. Tack on an Achilles injury in the months that followed and you’ve got the makings of a long walk down the short pier to a bad time.

Obviously, Sekera’s return would be a welcome sight for a porous Oilers’ defensive core that has been on the hook for 171 goals this season, the fourth-highest total in the NHL I should add, but you have to wonder how effective he’ll be after missing 50+ games. Yes, the man can move the puck more effectively than any of the options the Oilers have on their back end right now, but how will his robotic legs hold up? How has the ACL to Achilles injuries affected his mobility? The good news is that we’re about to find out the answer to some of those questions. Looking at the Condors schedule, they play five games over the next 12 games and I really hope that the Oilers choose to keep Reggie down there for all of them. To me, there’s no reason to try and rush him back given the time he’s missed and if it takes a few extra days to get his fitness up to par then so be it.

Of course, we haven’t even touched on the cap implications that his activation will cause. The Oilers are going to need to clear millions in cap space to fit him back on the roster and I will be fascinated to see how this plays out. The obvious move would be a Cam Talbot trade in addition to a few demotions to Bakersfield, but who the hell knows what will actually happen — your guess is as good as mine. All I know for sure is that I’ll be buckling my seatbelt and asking for our McSaviour to help us. Regardless of what needs to happen to make the money work, these next couple of weeks are going to be very interesting for the Oilers and their fans. What do you guys think?