“He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Berube said. “He’s very calm. He and (Jake) McCabe look like they have instant chemistry right now, which is great. They’re moving the puck extremely well.”
“When you talk about tempo, Stecher plays with tempo. He shuts people down, he skates and he gets on the ice. He does a lot of good things.”
“I didn’t know much about him, but when I see him on the blue line in the offensive zone, he moves his feet extremely well and gets shots off,” Berube said of Stecher.
“A lot of times you don’t know a guy until you get him. You see people play and you see other teams play, but until you get a guy, you don’t know the personality. You don’t know what he’s about. But this guy is a very focused hockey player. He’s very team-oriented. He brings a lot of energy to our team and a lot of speed to our team there.”
Stecher has been partially elevated on the roster due to injury, but he is more than gaining his minutes. Toronto has a plus-five differential when Stecher is on the ice, along with a 62.7 percent expected goals share, via Natural Stat Trick. Stecher’s continued rise for the Leafs has been one of the bright spots of the season, and he will look to continue his momentum when the team takes on the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
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