Andrej Sekera

After playing one season in the Slovak Extraliga for Dukla Trenčín, Sekera came to North America. He played two seasons with the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where in the 2005–06 season, he won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL's most outstanding defenceman.

On July 14, 2006, Sekera signed a three-year contract with the Buffalo Sabres. He made his professional debut with the Sabres' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans, in the 2006–07 season. He also appeared in two NHL games with the Sabres early in the season.

Sekera recorded his first NHL goal on November 28, 2007, against St. Louis Blues' goaltender Manny Legace.

In 2009, Sekera was selected to represent Slovakia internationally at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Slovakia ultimately finished fourth in the tournament.

On July 19, 2011, Sekera signed a four-year contract extension with the Sabres worth $11 million and in doing so, avoided salary arbitration.[1]

During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, which cancelled the majority of the first half of the 2012–13 season, Sekera played in his native Slovakia with Slovan Bratislava of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He returned to the Sabres following the return of NHL play in January 2013.

On June 30, 2013, during the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Sekera was traded by the Sabres to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for the team's second-round draft pick (ultimately used to select J. T. Compher) and defenceman Jamie McBain.[2]

Sekera with the Buffalo Sabres in 2011.

In 2014, Sekera was again selected to represent Slovakia, participating in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Slovakia finished the tournament in a disappointing 11th place.

In the midst of the 2014–15 season, in the last year of contract before approaching unrestricted free agency, and with the Hurricanes out of playoff contention, on February 25, 2015, Sekera was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a conditional first-round draft pick and defensive prospect Roland McKeown.[3]

On July 1, 2015, the Edmonton Oilers signed Sekera to a six-year, $33 million contract.[4] In his first season with the club, Sekera recorded 6 goals and 30 points in a career-high 81 games.

During the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, Sekera suffered a torn ACL. It was announced he would miss six-to-nine months.[5] Sekera made his 2017–18 season debut on December 22 in a 3–2 win over the St. Louis Blues.[6]

During the 2018 offseason, Sekera injured his Achilles tendon while training and was set to be out indefinitely.[7] In the 2018–19 season, following a lengthy rehab, Sekera returned to play on a conditioning assignment with AHL affiliate the Bakersfield Condors, on February 5, 2019.[8] After five games, Sekera returned to the Oilers and made his first appearance with Edmonton in over a year, playing a third-pairing defensive role against the Arizona Coyotes on February 19, 2019.[9] Sekera played out the season with the Oilers to finish with 4 assists in 24 games.

Having been limited to just 60 regular-season games over the previous two seasons, Sekera's tenure with Edmonton ended as he was placed on unconditional waivers by the Oilers in order to buy out the remaining two years of his initial six-year contract on June 30, 2019.[10]

On July 1, 2019, Sekera was signed as a free agent to a one-year $1.5 million contract with the Dallas Stars.[11] Adding a veteran presence to the Stars' third pairing on the blueline, Sekera appeared in 57 games in the 2019–20 season and posted two goals and six assists. In the playoffs, Sekera appeared in a career high 27 post-season games, adding 1 assist, in helping the Stars reach the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals.

On October 4, 2020, Sekera signed a two-year, $3 million contract extension with the Stars.[12] Sekera scored his first goal with the Stars in the 2020 NHL Winter Classic.