Maple Leafs claim Troy Stecher off waivers from Oilers and place Anthony Stolarz on injured reserve

Stecher, 31, is a right-handed defenseman who was in his third season with the Oilers after stops with four other NHL teams before the Maple Leafs claimed him. He was originally an undrafted prospect who signed with the NCAA’s Vancouver Canucks after a successful tenure at the University of North Dakota. He spent most of his career with the Canucks before stops with the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames before arriving in Edmonton.

Stecher is undersized at 6-foot-1 and 184 pounds, making him a different type of defender than the one general manager Brad Treliving has sought to build his defensive corps in recent years, and he doesn’t bring a ton to the table offensively. That said, he is a good puck mover and, at worst, will give the Leafs a preferable depth option over having both Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers on the ice if injuries occur.

In the best case scenario, he finds his place in the team and can slide into the bottom pair with Oliver Ekman-Larsson when the team is fully healthy again. Stecher is an unrestricted free agent after the 2025-26 season and currently has an annual cap hit of $788,000.

Stolarz, meanwhile, is on injured reserve after suffering an upper-body injury against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. The nature of how he suffered the injury is unknown, but his placement on IR retroactive to November 11 means he will be out until at least November 19, making the Leafs’ game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 20 the next possible game he could start.

The Maple Leafs visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night as they look to break out of a four-game slump.

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