Oiler's received some bad news this past week as veteran defenseman Andrej Sekera underwent knee surgery that most likely puts an end to his 2018-19 campaign before it even began. While Sekera isn't the player he used to be and has been surpassed by a few younger players, he will be a veteran presence missed by the Oiler's this season. Always sucks to hear about a player getting injured but a bit tough to swallow when it happens in the offseason.
The torn ACL leaves Sekera out indefinitely and leaves a hole in the Oiler's defense that might not be easy to fill. Sekera was most likely going to be on the third pairing alongside either Kris Russell or Matt Benning. The injury opens the door for several young players to have a chance to make the roster out of training camp. Right now the two front runners in my opinion will be Ethan Bear and Evan Bouchard.
Ethan Bear is a highly skilled defender who put up a lot of points in junior and played 18 games with the Oiler's at the tail end of last season. Bear showed glimpses of the player he might end up being but overall looked like he needed a bit more development before becoming a full time NHL defender. Bear has had the offseason to work on any deficiencies he had from last season and I hope he comes into camp ready to land himself a fulltime spot on the Oiler's roster.
Evan Bouchard was the 10th overall pick in this years draft and looks like he could be ready to make the jump from juniors to the NHL. The Oiler's were extremely lucky having Bouchard fall to them at 10 and if he's able to make a quick transition to the NHL, will be a huge win for the Oiler's. Typically defenders don't make the immediate jump from juniors to the NHL in their draft year but there have been a few exceptions to that rule and the Oiler's will be hoping that Bouchard is one of them.
Both Bear and Bouchard fill a critical need for the Oiler's, being able to contribute on the powerplay. The Oiler's, despite oozing with talent, have struggled immensely on the powerplay and will be looking for a defenseman that can help rectify the situation.
I was intrigued by the battles that were going to occur amongst the defensemen in training camp this year. With Sekera out with an injury, those battles will only be intensified. Players like Ethan Bear and Evan Bouchard have moved from being outsiders trying to beat out veterans to earn roster spots to being real contenders to land an NHL gig. It's even possible that the season starts with both players on the roster now. The Oiler's could end up turning a real negative situation into a positive outcome and that gives me hope that the Sekera injury won't have a vastly negative impact on the Oiler's season.