Why Troy Stecher is a safe bet to add to the Maple Leafs’ defensive depth

What the Leafs know for sure this season is that Dakota Mermis and Philippe Myers won’t get it done. You can probably add Brandon Carlo and Simon Benoit to that list as well, but bringing in Stecher won’t solve their shortcomings. It’s a move that will ultimately see Myers and/or Mermis demoted.

The need is clearly there, but the question is whether Troy Stecher is the player who can help address it. He has a good shot, which is always a bonus. He’s a player the Oilers were hoping they could release and report to the AHL, so he’s still seen as a value-add defenseman in the eyes of a club that has been to the Stanley Cup Finals in the past two playoffs. And Stecher is a player that Brad Treliving previously acquired and who Treliving and Berube would have seen a lot of during their time in the Western Conference.

In contrast, Troy Stecher, at 6-foot-1, doesn’t fit the big, bad Leafs image that Brad Treliving and Craig Berube are trying to build. And at 31 years old, Stecher isn’t a step toward a youthful reinterpretation of the blueline, he’s more of the same and after playing 66 regular season games and eight playoff games for the Oilers last season, he’s only played six of 19 games for the Oilers this season. He hasn’t looked that good in the system he’s used to playing.

Stecher’s on-ice differentials have been the worst on the Oilers blueline this season, which has been partially attributed to a lack of offense from the Oilers’ bottom six forwards that Stecher played with regularly, and a 1.51 GA/60 and 2.48 xGA/60 are numbers the Leafs can work with.

Stecher has had generally adequate numbers throughout his career, which justifies the amount of time he has been able to capture as the seventh-ranked defenseman in the league. Stecher’s willingness to do whatever it takes to keep a job is reflected in his shot block totals, but his biggest upside, which isn’t reflected in his offensive numbers, is that he is a capable passer and can improve the controlled zone exits of the bottom pair.

There are some similarities in Troy Stecher’s game to Mike Van Ryn’s game when he played that might make him a good fit for the team.

Signing Stecher off waivers was a no-risk move for the Maple Leafs, but it still feels a bit unnecessary. There are a lot of similarities in Stecher’s game to Matt Benning’s game, and while Stecher has done better in recent years, it’s interesting that Benning hasn’t seen a moment where the Leafs blueline depth clearly needed a kick in the pants. The depth issues on the blueline also seemed like a potential opening for William Villeneuve, though the Leafs may have been concerned about the defensive side of his game and that’s not an area where the Leafs want to take a step back at this point.

Last season, Troy Stecher played primarily with Darnell Nurse, which makes sense. Darnell Nurse was allowed to attack the game a little more, chasing the big goal and Stecher brought a safer, positional element to the game. From a Leafs perspective, Stecher could be a fit for Ekman-Larsson, who can pursue the offensive side of the puck a bit more, or play with Benoit, and have Benoit be more aggressive on the puck carrier and chase big hits.

While Stecher has the potential to be a depth upgrade for the Maple Leafs, his acquisition does not improve the Leafs other than plugging a leak at the bottom of their roster. Removing Mermis and Myers from the lineup is a step forward if Stecher can give the team replacement-level results.