Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Andrej Sekera is in the final year of his current deal and on the verge of unrestricted free agency. The team has already made it known that their preference is to re-sign Sekera to a contract extension, but that barring a new pact, they would make Sekera - and forward Jiri Tlusty - available in trade and most likely move him to another NHL destination in exchange for picks and/or prospects.
Per the latest rumor from TheFourthPeriod.com, contract negotiations between Sekera's agent and the team have been nearly non-existent to this point and potential suitors are beginning to line up to bid for his services.
Sekera, added by the Canes during the 2013 draft, has been everything the team could have asked for and more. He finished the 2013-14 season with 44 points, the highest total of his NHL career.
But with the organization currently in dire straits and potentially realizing that shipping off pieces and allowing the rest of the season to slip slowly away could net them Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, Sekera may now find himself a more valuable resource off the ice than player on it.
The 28-year-old former third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres has one goal and 11 assists in 31 games this season. His expiring deal carries a very manageable cap hit of $2.75 million.
The Red Wings have just shy of $3.5 million in cap space and the Stars have about $5 million, so either franchise could fit him under the cap with no major effort.
As an expiring contract, he could be a very attractive addition for both teams - the Stars have a number of young, home-grown defenseman in Jamie Oleksiak, Patrik Nemeth and John Klinberg who will someday be quality blueliners, but aren't quite ready yet to shoulder the load.
The Wings and head coach Mike Babcock, after a rocky start to the season, are again thinking Stanley Cup and could very willingly trade or bump a player like Jakub Kindl to the bench in exchange for Sekera.