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Vancouver Canucks Must Figure Out How to Keep Troy Stecher

By Ben Dooley

Oct 3, 2016; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) and defenseman Troy Stecher (51) defend against Arizona Coyotes forward Brad Richardson (15) during the third period during a preseason hockey game at Rogers Arena. The Arizona Coyotes won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2016; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) and defenseman Troy Stecher (51) defend against Arizona Coyotes forward Brad Richardson (15) during the third period during a preseason hockey game at Rogers Arena. The Arizona Coyotes won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Vancouver Canucks are not a good hockey team right now. However, they have something good in defenseman Troy Stecher and must figure out a way to keep him around.

When Chris Tanev returns from his lower-body injury, the Vancouver Canucks will have to make some decisions on their blue line. They will have nine defensemen on their NHL roster and will need to get that down to eight.

The easiest way to do that would be to send Troy Stecher back to the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League. However, one thing I learned in high school is the easy decision often isn’t the right one. That applies here.

Although Stecher has gone pointless in his two NHL games, he’s contributing defensively. Last night, he was a major reason why Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid was only able to tally one point. There are NHL defensemen who struggle to shut him down but Stecher has figured it out.

Even though he doesn’t have an NHL point yet, it’s not for a lack of trying. Last night, he started a three-on-one and, when that didn’t amount to anything, he turned around and shut down McDavid in his own end.

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So, how do you keep Stecher?

The easiest way to do that would be to send Nikita Tryamkin down to the AHL. However, that’s not going to be so easy because he’s still refusing AHL time. If Tryamkin is still refusing AHL time when Tanev returns, the Canucks will have to look elsewhere.

Next on the depth chart is Alex Biega. Biega has played one game for the Canucks this season as a fourth-line fill-in when Alex Burrows and Derek Dorsett went down with injuries. The only reason to keep him on the NHL roster is because he requires waivers and there is a chance the Canucks could lose him. However, New York Rangers defenseman Dylan McIlrath just cleared waivers and I think he would be a much more appealing option than Biega.

Another reason to keep Biega around is the expansion draft. According to CapFriendly, if Biega plays in 18 more games this season, he will be eligible to be exposed to Las Vegas. That would allow the Canucks to protect Tanev, Alex Edler and Erik Gudbranson. However, if Luca Sbisa plays in 21 more games this season, that issue no longer exists and Biega becomes solely a depth defenseman.

If Biega is sent down to Utica, that still only leaves Stecher as the seventh or eighth defenseman on the roster. That means he will have to bypass Philip Larsen or Sbisa on the depth chart. Eight games ago, that sounded like a tough task, but it doesn’t seem so crazy anymore.

Larsen was brought in to revitalize the power play but has failed at the task. Through eight games, the Canucks power play is clicking at just 12.0 percent, which places them in 26th in the league. If he had been good defensively, the Canucks could attribute his power-play struggles to readjusting to the NHL and give him a longer leash. However, that has even been an issue at times.

You could also make the argument that Sbisa isn’t strong defensively. He did have a strong start to the year but is slowly coming back to earth. It’s not likely he’ll be taken out of the lineup, though. They need him for the expansion draft and his contract is more expensive. He could also be paired with Tanev and that could solve a lot of his issues.

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It looked like Larsen would turn it around in the game against Los Angeles but that now seems like an anomaly. We are approaching the 10-game mark in this NHL season and Larsen still hasn’t figured out the power play. There comes a point where you have to stop making excuses for the player and realize the player just isn’t living to the hype.

With Stecher impressing at both ends of the ice, that time has come.

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