You could see this one coming from a mile away. How else could we have 2000 words on the subject within a half an hour of the news breaking?
Today, the Canucks signed NCAA free agent defenceman Troy Stecher, a junior at the University of North Dakota. Stecher is a native of Richmond, B.C., and had told the press just last week how he “dreamed about playing for the Canucks” when he was younger. Stecher also spent the season with Vancouver’s 2015 first round selection, Brock Boeser. This was a lay up.
Let’s take a look at what the Canucks have added in Troy Stecher, the season he’s enjoyed with the Fighting Hawks, and his hockey career to this point and into the future.
The Contract
Stecher was signed to a two-year deal. The term was predetermined, as Stecher turned 22 less than a week ago on April 7th. In accordance with the CBA, a player in their age-22 season must be signed to a two-year Entry Level deal – this is the same rule that the Canucks flubbed when signing Nikita Tryamkin last month.
Unlike Tryamkin, Stecher will not be joining the Canucks this season (what with their season being over and everything). As such, his deal won’t kick in until next year, and subsequently won’t expire until July of 2018. In the interim, Stecher is free to sign an Amateur Tryout Contract with the Utica Comets, as several other NCAA free agent signings have already done in recent weeks. The Comets are gearing up for a playoff run and could use the depth on defence.
Scouting Report
Stecher is an offensive defenceman with a knack for creating and joining rushes. At 5-foot-11 and 191 pounds, he is considered undersized for a defenceman. This likely played a role in why he was passed over at three consecutive NHL drafts between 2012 and 2014. That’s all behind him now though as Stecher’s most recent season generated plenty of NHL buzz, and has finally earned him an NHL contract.
Here is an excerpt from the scouting report regarding Stecher provided by Elite Prospects:
Highly skilled two-way defenceman that displays tremendous poise with and without the puck. Soft hands that can pass as well as let rockets fly. Excellent vision and a playmaker’s knack for the game. Very aware and responsible defensively, but is not comfortable having the puck in his own end for too long and will take it upon himself to get the puck out of the defensive zone. His impact upon the game occurs at both ends of the ice as an offensive and defensive force.
For an in depth review of his abilities, check out this scouting report from SB Nation. It’s from partway through the 2014-15 season, but it provides an excellent review of his abilities and he had developed through his first year and a half at North Dakota. Keep in mind as well that he’s had another year and half development since that, and his stock has only gone up.
Consistently noted is Stecher’s exceptional skating ability. His speed and agility allows him to join the rush as a fourth attacker, while still being able to get back to defend when the puck heads the other way. Vancouver is in dire need of this type of the defenceman, and the hope is that Stecher can provide value at both ends of the ice in the coming years.
Watch Stecher’s maneuverability in this video as he dances around the offensive zone, drawing defenders and playing catch with Gage Ausmus before rifling home a wicked point shot:
Boeser collects his 50th point of the season on Stecher’s goal!!! pic.twitter.com/bUVDItIn5F— WTG (@WinThaGame) March 18, 2016
I know it looks like a power play, but that’s actually five-on-five. Seriously.
The Road to this Season
Stecher was selected by the Portland Winterhawks in the seventh round of the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft, but turned down the opportunity and instead joined the BCHL, playing three seasons for the Penticton Vees from 2010-11 to 2012-13, increasing his point totals in each successive season. He scored 42 points (five goals, 37 assists) in 53 games in his draft year, whiling wearing an ‘A’ for the Vees. The next season, he was awarded the captaincy, and increased his stats across the board, but again he went undrafted.
By avoiding the CHL, he maintained his college eligibility and committed to the University of North Dakota prior to the 2013-14 season. He scored 11 points in 42 games in his freshman year, and 13 points in 34 games in his sophomore. By the year of his second season, he was considered one of North Dakota’s best defencemen – this on a team replete with NHL-drafted blue liners, including Jordan Schmaltz (STL), Paul LaDue (LAK), Nick Mattson (CHI), Tucker Poolman (WPG), Austin Poganski (STL), Keaton Thompson (ANA) and Gage Ausmus (SJS).
The 2015-16 Season
Some of those players moved on to pro hockey the following season, as Stecher returned to North Dakota for his junior campaign, thrust into a bigger role than ever. As a team leader, he was given an ‘A’, and his offensive numbers shot up. He more than doubled his goal and point totals from the previous season, leading all North Dakota blue liners in points – a defence group that is among the best in the NCAA.
North Dakota was in the top ten in the NCAA for points, goals and shots on goal per game from defencemen, with Stecher having a large hand in the offence.
Stecher himself was sixth among NCAA defencemen with 29 points this season, while his eight goals put him 13th in the nation and his 21 assists placed him 11th. Stecher put up these numbers while playing a league-high 43 games. He was a very solid shot generator, putting 2.6 shots on net per game, which ranked 10th in the NCAA among defencemen. His plus-26 rating was seventh best.
Stecher’s 29 points led North Dakota blue liners and accounted just under a quarter (24 per cent) of North Dakota’s blueline point total and nearly a third (31 per cent) of North Dakota’s defence goal total.
He got off to a scorching hot start to the year, posting seven assists in his first four games. He had some streaky periods, but never went longer than four games without a point, while eight games was the longest he went without a goal. You can see Stecher’s points per game breakdown below:
Stecher was an instrumental part of North Dakota’s run to the frozen four championship, and has shown that he has a penchant for raising his game on the big stage. Though he didn’t get a point in the Fighting Hawks’ championship game, he was on the ice for three of NoDak’s goals (including a short handed marker), and wasn’t on the ice for any goals against.
The Future
Stecher should have an opportunity to join the Comets in the near term, if they decide to add him on an ATO. It would certainly be a solid idea, as the Comets have only eight healthy defencemen right now, and one of them has been a healthy scratch for weeks on end.
Even if he doesn’t join Utica for the playoffs this year, he’ll certainly join the club next season (assuming he doesn’t pull a Hutton and break camp with the Canucks). The Canucks’ farm club will be looking to add defencemen in the off season, with Andrey Pedan (likely) graduating, and only Carl Neill coming in from the CHL. It’s possible that Evan McEneny jumps up from the ECHL as well, but other than that, the Comets are short on defencemen that are NHL prospects – Jordan Subban and Ashton Sautner are the only other two that meet that description. A right hand shot like Stecher’s would certainly be welcome, as would his college experience, with many of their other young defencemen coming out of the CHL.
Past players that meet the threshold of statistical similarity with Stecher have gone on to forge careers as NHL regulars about 8.8 per cent of the time – not an overly impressive number, but college free agents are a bit of a crap shoot anyways. Stecher certainly isn’t a guaranteed NHLer, but he’s a nice add that costs absolutely nothing. Regardless of his eventual level of success, he’s found money right now.
