Oilers clear cap space with buyout of defenceman Andrej Sekera

The Edmonton Oilers will have a little extra money to work with when free agency opens.

The club announced Sunday it has placed defenceman Andrej Sekera on unconditional waivers for the purpose of buying out the final two years of his contract.

Sekera signed a six-year, $33-million US deal with the Oilers as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2015.

According to capfriendly.com, the move gives Edmonton an extra $3 million in salary cap space this year and next heading into free agency on Monday. The Oilers will pay Sekera $1.5 million each of the next four years.

The 33-year-old has been limited to just 60 combined games over the last two seasons because of injury, registering a total of 12 assists.

A third-round pick by the Sabres in 2004, Sekera has 45 goals and 236 points in 707 career regular-season game with Buffalo and Edmonton. He's added four points (two goals, two assists) in 19 playoff outings.

Reimer on the move

The Carolina Hurricanes have swapped goalies by acquiring James Reimer in a trade with the Florida Panthers.

Florida acquired goalie Scott Darling and immediately placed him on waivers with the intention to buy out the remaining two years of his contract. The Panthers also acquired a sixth-round pick in the 2020 draft in the trade made Sunday, a day before the start of the NHL's free-agent signing period.

Reimer helps address the Hurricanes' immediate need at goalie with co-starters Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney eligible to become unrestricted free agents.

The 31-year-old Reimer had a 13-12-5 record and a .900 save percentage in 36 games with the Panthers last season. Overall, Reimer has a 144-120-19 record in 338 games, including stops in Toronto and San Jose.

For Florida, the trade amounted to the team freeing up space under the salary cap in dealing Reimer and buying out Darling's contract.

The Panthers do have a need at goalie with Roberto Luongo retiring after 19 seasons on Wednesday. Florida, however, is considered the front-runner to sign Columbus starter Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency.

Flyers cut Schlemko

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.

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.