It’s been a long journey for Troy Stecher to find a home, but he seems to have done so in Edmonton. While he only played seven games in the 2023-24 regular season after the Oilers picked up him from the Arizona Coyotes and none in those playoffs, making this season the first chance he really had to leave his mark.

And while it was far from a perfect campaign for the 31-year-old, he found a way to hold down the fort when called upon.

The strength in his game was in helping Edmonton suppress goals against, with his 2.2 goals against per hour being second-best among Oilers defencemen, behind just Jake Walman who only played 15 regular season games. The team was able to tread water with him on the ice, as he blocked a solid amount of shots.

Come the post-season he was called upon for eight games — two against the Vegas Golden Knights, four against the Dallas Stars and two against the Florida Panthers — providing steady play on the blue line. The Oilers did a great job suppressing scoring chances, expected goals against and actual goals against with him on the ice, as Edmonton outscored the opposition 3-1. Most importantly, he helped steady the ship of Darnell Nurse in the games he did draw in for.

According to Hockey Viz, Stecher drove offence at a two percent rate below league average, defence at a league average rate and penalty kill play at a two percent rate above league average. His overall contributions saw him impact the game at the rate of an average third-pairing defenceman.

With one-year left on a two-year deal paying him $787,500 annually, Stecher will look to stick in Edmonton as a seventh defenceman, something there won’t be as much competition for compared to the depth spots in the forward ranks.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.