Oilers place Sekera on waivers to buy out his contract

The Edmonton Oilers are parting ways with injury-prone defenceman Andrej Sekera by placing him on waivers with the intention to buy out the final two years of his contract.

The Philadelphia Flyers announced Sunday they are doing the same thing with defenceman David Schlemko, who has one year left on his contract. The moves come a day before the NHL's free-agency signing period opens.

A torn knee ligament in 2017-18 followed by a torn Achilles tendon last summer limited the 33-year-old Sekera to a combined no goals and 12 assists in 60 games over the past two seasons. He's a 13-season NHL veteran and due to make $4.5 million in each of the final two years of his contract, and represented a $5.5 million hit to the Oilers' salary cap.

Schlemko spent most of last season in the minors and didn't play a game with Philadelphia after the Flyers acquired him in a trade with Montreal in February. Since spending his first five-plus seasons with the Coyotes, the 32-year-old has been a member of seven teams since January 2015.

Schlemko was due to make $1.8 million next season, and would have counted $2.1 against the Flyers' salary cap.

Vancouver centre Ryan Spooner and Dallas forward Valeri Nichushkin both cleared waivers and will have their contracts bought out by their respective teams.

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John Wawrow, The Associated Press