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After Lucic trade, Kings forced to let Sekera walk

Los Angeles Kings v Minnesota Wild

Andrej Sekera

NHLI via Getty Images

Teams looking at free agent defensemen should be pleased to hear this news -- following Friday’s pre-draft acquisition of Milan Lucic, Kings GM Dean Lombardi announced the team wouldn’t be signing d-man Andrej Sekera to a contract extension.

The news, reported by ESPN, comes after L.A. expressed major interest in bringing the 29-year-old back. Sekera was acquired at the deadline from Carolina and impressed in a limited body of work; he only appeared in 16 games for the Kings before suffering a season-ending knee injury in late March.

Any chance the Kings had of retaining Sekera went out the window after inheriting Lucic’s $6 million cap hit, even with Boston picking up $2.7M of it.

Sekera will undoubtedly garner interest on the open market. Colorado has already expressed an interest in adding a left-handed defensemen and Sekera, who scored a career-high 44 points in ’13-14, would certainly fit the bill.

Just don’t expect him to come cheap. The UFA defenseman market is thin and Sekera will be one of the best available, almost certain to get a big raise from the $2.75 million he made annually on his last deal.