Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Andrej Sekera was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night, and the haul for him was pretty impressive.
Sekera will be an unrestricted free agent in July, so there’s always the chance that this is just a rental for the Kings, who despite winning eight straight games are only two points clear of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Yet the Kings gave up a first round pick — their 2015 pick if Los Angeles makes the playoffs this year, 2016 otherwise — and prospect Roland McKeown, who’s young and still in junior but was a second round pick just this past year. (Here’s more on him if you’re interested.)
So that begs the question…
you could probably get a first for coburn if market continues like this.
— collin mehalick (@collin) February 25, 2015
Despite what many Flyers fans think of him, Braydon Coburn is really good. He’s a quality first-or-second pairing defenseman, even on a contender. He’s basically the same age as Sekera, and he’s on a really good contract — just a $4.5 million cap hit this year and next.
Sekera is a good player. He might be a slight touch better than Coburn in most categories, as these graphics from Own The Puck illustrate, although Coburn does suppress shots against considerably better.
Here’s Sekera versus his ranking against the rest of the league:
And here’s Coburn:
Nevertheless, they’re both valuable players, and Coburn’s contract status might make him even more valuable than Sekera to the right buyer. The Flyers could definitely get a first round pick for Coburn at this deadline if this Sekera deal is indicative of the market.
What would you like to see the return be on a Braydon Coburn trade?
