Washington Capitals: Andrej Sekera is the free agent to target in 2020
The Washington Capitals are looking for a defenseman at a good price.
One priority this offseason for the Washington Capitals is to re-sign Brenden Dillon. In order to do that, they can’t spend a lot of money on another defenseman. One that’s on the market who’s affordable is now Stanley Cup runner up Andrej Sekera from the Dallas Stars.
Sekera has been in the NHL for 13 seasons and is 34 years old. He’s not a top four blueliner but rather a depth defenseman which is what the Capitals need. The question is will he want to win Dallas after just coming up short to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.
Another challenge the Caps will be up against is Dallas’ unlimited (not really but seems like it) $15 million in cap space. They also won’t have a lot of big names to re-sign which is another hurdle.
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Sekera doesn’t score and his stats don’t quite jump off the page but he’s still a good depth defenseman which is what the Caps need to improve a unit that struggled the last two seasons. When one thinks of the Capitals they usually think of the offense rather than the defense. Unless, of course, we’re talking about John Carlson.
His advanced stats are average at best. In 57 games played with the Stars, Sekera had a 48.50 percent Corsi For percentage. His scoring chance percentage is better at 51.06 percent and his high danger percentage was 51.79 percent.
Don’t expect him to play top four minutes. He’ll most likely be a bottom two or a depth defenseman. He’s also very affordable. He carries a cap hit of $1.5 million.
The question is what will the Caps do with their defenseman personnel. Will they make a trade prior to the draft? Will they make a trade in a few days? Tomorrow? Who knows but when free agency opens up on Oct. 9th it will be interesting to see what kind of players General Manager Brian MacLellan can add to his team.
This season Sekera scored two goals and added six assists for eight points. Again, not a high scorer but the Caps are looking for depth to their blueline. Sekera has played for five different teams throughout his 14 year NHL career including the Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, and this past year with the Dallas Stars.
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With free agency looming, it should be an exciting offseason.