Apr 9, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; North Dakota Fighting Hawks defenseman Paul LaDue (6) talks with defenseman Troy Stecher (2) during the second period of to the championship game of the 2016 Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
By signing D Troy Stecher, the Vancouver Canucks have taken a big step.
The Vancouver Canucks made their first splash of the year in the college free agent market by signing Richmond-native defenceman Troy Stecher to a two-year entry level contract. Then the whole of Vancouver just forgot about him despite the fact that nothing else is going on in Van City.
This is a very opportune signing for Jim Benning and his club. For how many years has Vancouver mourned the lack of a young puck-moving defenceman? Great for the team’s future — that’s what you may have thought last week.
But now that the dust has settled, the true beauty of this acquisition has me at awe. The Vancouver Canucks have just accomplished a great feat at the organizational level with a single no-cost move.
Troy Stecher makes this Canucks team so potent for the upcoming 2016-17 season even before lacing up the skates for a single practice in a Canucks uniform. Let’s start with a scouting report from 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. [EP]
Here is how Stecher means much more to the Canucks than what the common fan might think:
Next: The Stecher Effect #1: Empowering the Draft
Apr 9, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; North Dakota Fighting Hawks defenseman Troy Stecher (2) skates around holding the championship trophy after beating the Quinnipiac Bobcats in the championship game of the 2016 Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament at Amalie Arena. North Dakota defeated Quinnipiac 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
The Stecher Effect #1: Take the Best Player Available at the Draft
With the addition of a prolific defenceman like Stecher, the Canucks have added to the number of prospect defencemen who will be between the ages of 19 and 23, what I would deem the most valuable years in player development.
The Canucks now have a good crop of young defencemen in that age group, including Guillaume Brisebois, Carl Neill, Tate Olson, Jordan Subban, and now Stecher.
This alleviates much pressure from Benning’s shoulders. With the Canucks set to draft high in this year’s draft, the team was not going to be able to address the lack of blueline prospects in the system.
With the top-five group at this year’s draft consisting a centreman (Auston Matthews) and four wingers (P. Laine, J. Puljujarvi, P. Dubois, M. Tkachuk), the best player the Canucks were going to get was at the forward position.
Now the Canucks don’t have to worry about drafting by position so early in a gem-filled first round.
By signing Stecher, they are now ready to pass on the likes of lower-ranked top defencemen such as Olli Juolevi and Jacob Chychrun. No worries about Benning doing anything odd to trade down to a “defenceman’s pick”.
Next: The Stecher Effect #2: A Trade Catalyst on the Blueline
The Stecher Effect #2: A Trade Catalyst on the Blueline
It has been well documented how the Canucks have a mess on the blueline to start the year. The end of the season saw a disgruntled Andrey Pedan playing single-digit minutes as a forward while big Nikita Tryamkin took over a top-four role over a span of a handful of games on a depleted blueline.
So the blueline looks like this, based on the contracts that are already in place:
Edler – Tanev Hutton – Tryamkin Sbisa – Biega
Add Pedan into that mix, as well as this guy:
I don’t think the Canucks have to look too far for a defenceman who can play on the powerplay. Not with this Philip Larsen in the house in exchange for a fifth-round pick. Larsen, perhaps overlooked by some here in Vancouver, has a long NHL resume.
Carrying eight defenceman without Hamhuis in the equation? The lineup is full to the brim.
Now, Troy Stecher is probably not going to be able to make the team out of camp. He will certainly be a top call-up option from the AHL. But if the Canucks see enough in Stecher to play as the eight defenceman come February 2017, who is stopping Jim Benning from trading out a depth defenceman to a contender?
The 28-year-old depth defenceman has left many in Van City wondering if he is a top-six caliber player. He certainly is a great plug-in option, but he did not show enough to earn himself a top-six spot, especially with this much competition for the job next year.
So how about shipping out Biega at the trade deadline and bringing up Stecher?
Signing Stecher just made Biega an effective trade asset. Would be a nice depth option for contenders, right? Or if the Canucks desperately want to bring Hamhuis back, Biega could be a piece moving at the 2016 Entry Draft where Jim Benning has proved himself the most active.
Next: The Stecher Effect #3: Young Leader for the Prospects
The Stecher Effect #3: Young Leader for the Prospect D
The entire NHL saw how big of a presence Ben Hutton grew to be, did it not? Here is Troy Stecher who earned himself an Alternate Captaincy on the North Dakota lineup! At 22 years of age, that is perfect.
Stecher is precisely the guy that the Canucks want to lead the likes of Tate Olson, Guillaume Brisebois, Carl Neill, and perhaps even Jordan Subban.
For Subban, Stecher not only is a player he can look up to but also a source of competition. After leading the Canucks blueline prospects at the AHL level, Subban has enjoyed a monopoly on the production department on the Comets blueline.
Especially when Taylor Fedun went down with a hand injury and Alex Biega was called up to the Canucks after starting out the year as the Comets captain, Subban stepped up and enjoyed a full slate of opportunities.
Stecher will benefit Subban and vice versa, while the two lead this strong group of Canucks blueline prospects from the 2015 draft class.
However, as always, expectations should be realistic. The NCAA has just recently blossomed to produce some of the finest of the NHL while the CHL has history on its side. Speaking strictly on point production, Stecher’s final season with the North Dakota Fighting Hawks eclipses Ben Hutton’s finals season with the University of Maine.
B. Hutton 2014/15 (H-East) 39 GP / 9 Goals / 12 Assists / 21 Pts / .54 Pts per Gm T. Stecher 2015/16 (NCHC) 43 GP / 8 Goals / 21 Assists / 29 Pts / .67 Pts per Gm
Sure, Hutton’s teammates did not include the likes of Drake Caggiula and Brock Boeser as Stecher did. But unless you have more advanced numbers to throw around, I would advise making the numeric argument that Stecher is better a player than Hutton is.
Next: The Stecher Effect #4: Opening the Gates to More NCAA
The Stecher Effect #4: Opening the Gates to More NCAA
Troy Stecher came to Vancouver not only because he was born here but also because his teammate and Canucks draft pick Brock Boeser kept him posted about his team. Teammates have these impacts on each other.
So then is Drake Caggiula not interested in playing the rest of his hockey career with two of his North Dakota teammates? The left winger has been the very linemate for Boeser while sharing the alternate captaincy with Stecher. With Vancouver already throwing a pitch to negotiate a contract with him, why should Caggiula not come to Vancouver?
In fact, news from TSN’s Frank Seravalli is that he will be visiting Vancouver among a few other NHL cities in the coming weeks:
According to sources, Caggiula has whittled down his list to include (in no particular order) Philadelphia, Edmonton, Ottawa, Vancouver, Chicago and Buffalo. (Frank Seravalli, TSN)
The Stecher Effect doesn’t end there. Actually, the Stecher Effect is an extension of the Hutton effect. The NCAA bloom has been highlighted in Vancouver thanks to the growth of Hutton into a top-four potential defenceman in a seamless transition. And that also means that the Canucks have a case to sign netminder Thatcher Demko.
This Stecher signing should serve as an encouragement to Demko to sign with the Canucks and turn pro. After all, he is representing his country at the World Championship, and a nation’s top netminding prospect should be a professional hockey player, is that not right?
Add to that mix Quinnipiac Bobcats netminder Michael Garteig. The Stecher effect could open the NCAA floodgates to Vancouver.
After all, the Canucks are not going to be Stanley Cup contenders next year, who knows if they will be a playoff contender? If the Canucks want to have a valid reason for fans to come and watch, a local boy is something that would definitely help.
Although unlikely that Stecher gets a full season with the Canucks this coming season, the injection of the NCAA’s top defenceman available in free agency will certainly amount to goodness in the preseason games and the possible call-ups he will get.
Hey, it gives the fans a reason to support a trade of a blueline depth player, too! Jim Benning can actually get fan support for a trade that he makes if it means that Stecher gets to make the Canucks roster! Oh, what wonders the prospects of a local boy returning does to the city.
Make Rogers Arena great again?
The Wrap Up
So was this an important signing for the Canucks or what.
Getting a leader who can lead the juniors and the young pros on the blueline, catalyzing the transition to a younger defence core, buying local fan support, opening the gates for high-end college free agents, and freeing the Canucks from the notion that they have to draft a defenceman in the first round of a forward’s draft — you bet that it was a good signing for the Canucks.
But how much more does Jim Benning have up his sleeve? How much of a balance and cap management can he pull off?
The one room for concern is how the 2018 offseason is shaping up. Stecher has signed a contract that will end on the same term as Jake Virtanen, Jared McCann, Jannik Hansen, Luca Sbisa, Jordan Subban, Carl Neill, Guillaume Brisebois…
But these are not pressing issues. The Canucks are looking to make the quick transition to be a young contender and dealing with RFAs on their second contracts are always an issue that all NHL teams have faced.
Right now, the future just got a whole lot better. It is on Benning to follow up with a great offseason to make this city happy.
