Welcome to my annual player review series, where I dive into the Edmonton Oilers season player-by-player. We’ll look back at the season that was, what kind of impact each player had, and what we could see from them next season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.
Getting a great read on a player who played just seven games for the team isn’t the easiest of things to do. The sample size is small, and his games all came after the NHL’s trade deadline, when the Oilers picked up him and a 2024 seventh round pick from the Arizona Coyotes for a 2027 fourth round pick.
He made the most of the games he played, notching two points and dominating the goal and expected goal share. High PDO and small sample size aside, the Oilers were clearly impressed with the player, inking him to a two-year, $787,500 AAV contract this summer.
Despite the small sample size with the Oilers, Stecher had a very strong season as a whole, as highlighted by his Hockey Viz charts. He drove offence and the penalty kill at a league average rate, while providing defence at a six percent rate above league average. With him on the ice, opposing teams got virtually no shots on net from the right side of the ice, where he patrols.
His contributions were so strong that Hockey Viz had him playing at the level of an average first-pairing defenceman throughout the season.
Stecher has long been considered an underrated defenceman, largely due to his smaller stature. But every where he’s gone he’s had success, having been acquired near the NHL trade deadline in three consecutive years. Now, he gets some stability in Edmonton, and a chance to play games for them early in the year.
With the trade of Cody Ceci, Vincent Desharnais signing in Vancouver and Philip Broberg inking an offer sheet with the St. Louis Blues, the right side of the Oilers blue line is wide open for Stecher and Ty Emberson to take control of.
TROY STECHER’S CAREER SO FAR
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
2010-11 | Penticton Vees | BCHL | 54 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 47 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | |
2011-12 | Penticton Vees | BCHL | 53 | 5 | 37 | 42 | 42 | 15 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 8 | |
2012-13 | Penticton Vees | BCHL | 52 | 8 | 39 | 47 | 40 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 10 | |
2013-14 | U. of North Dakota | NCHC | 42 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 14 | ||||||
2014-15 | U. of North Dakota | NCHC | 34 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 22 | 11 | |||||
2015-16 | U. of North Dakota | NCHC | 43 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 37 | 26 | |||||
2016-17 | Utica Comets | AHL | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
2016-17 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 71 | 3 | 21 | 24 | 25 | -16 | — | — | — | — | — |
2017-18 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 68 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 35 | -7 | — | — | — | — | — |
2018-19 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 78 | 2 | 21 | 23 | 32 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — |
2019-20 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 69 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 32 | 10 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
2020-21 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 44 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 12 | -13 | — | — | — | — | — |
2021-22 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | -6 | — | — | — | — | — |
2021-22 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
2022-23 | Arizona Coyotes | NHL | 61 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 29 | -3 | — | — | — | — | — |
2022-23 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 20 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 15 | -3 | — | — | — | — | — |
2023-24 | Arizona Coyotes | NHL | 47 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 24 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — |
2023-24 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
NHL Totals | 494 | 19 | 91 | 110 | 225 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
PLAYERS REVIEWED SO FAR
- Warren Foegele
- Ryan McLeod
- Sam Carrick
- Vincent Desharnais
- Sam Gagner
- Adam Erne
- Adam Henrique
- Philip Broberg
- Mattias Janmark
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
