Oilers land Andrej Sekera with six-year, $33 million deal

The Edmonton Oilers started their shopping early by nabbing center Mark Letestu and defenseman Andrej Sekera 30 minutes into the opening of the free agent period.

Connor McDavid is now an Oiler. Peter Chiarelli is now running the show as general manager. Todd McLellan is behind the bench. There will be plenty more change coming in Edmonton, and with the amount of young talent already on the roster, this is a big summer for the franchise to finally turn things around.

Sekera’s deal is six years and worth $33 million. It also includes a no-movement clause.

The pickup of Sekera is big for the Edmonton defense, an area that needed upgrading. The 29-year old blueliner was dealt in February from Carolina to LA for a conditional first-rounder and prospect Roland McKeown. The Kings only got 16 games out of him since they missed the playoffs, which also meant the pick would be a 2016 one and not one in last weekend’s NHL Draft.

"I thought about that,” Sekera told TSN of playing on the same team as McDavid. “He's going to be a really good player."

Sekera can put up points from the back and also play a solid possession game at even strength (54-percent score-adjusted Corsi last season, per War on Ice).

An overpayment? Maybe. But it’s Edmonton and that’s the market value for defenseman of that calibre. That’s what they’re going to need to do for now until they can begin attracting free agents by winning.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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