TROY-ING TO SHINE ON D-LINE
‘Maturing’ defenceman has elevated his play since regaining confidence Jason Botchford
Forget all that ‘overnight success’ stuff, Stecher’s journey to prime time has had some rough patches
Troy Stecher should never have been the Vancouver Canucks’ best defenceman. He was too undersized, undrafted and inexperienced.
But there he was, a slice of hope at the end of a dim season, being feted last spring as the Canucks’ top blue-liner at 23 years of age.
He won the popular vote and he had earned it. His engine never died, even as the Canucks’ doors, bumpers and wheels popped off all around him, and were left strewn along the littered roadside.
Stecher played nearly every shift like it just might be his last. He finished fifth in the NHL among rookie defencemen with 24 points. He played 71 games, averaged 20 minutes of ice time, and was among the Canucks’ leaders in positively impacting shot-attempt differential.
His season was so impressive, people wondered if he could help carry a top pairing — if not now, then in the near future.
After so many had dismissed his chances of an NHL career, and counted him out, Stecher had made it. Right? Not so fast.
The NHL doesn’t work like that. Progression and development is rarely linear. A few months after “making it,” Stecher had a new coach, a new role and was facing new obstacles.
He was off the power play. His minutes were cut dramatically. He was left trying to figure out what had gone astray.
It didn’t happen overnight. It just felt that way.
“As a young guy, it was kind of hard to adjust,” Stecher said. “I’m still trying to find my way in this league. Early on it was tough.
“I had always been on the power play in college and juniors. I want to be on the power play here. But it’s not my role this year, and it is what it is. The power play has been good. I’m not going to complain about it. I understand if I’m not on it, I have to do something else better.”
Stecher has been better. He’s been doing other things, like impressing with the number of battles along the boards that he wins. He has theories about it. Maybe it’s his low centre of gravity. At 5-foot-9, he’s a lot closer to the puck than a 6-foot-something forechecking winger.
But theories like that don’t do him justice. He wins board battles because he’s good with this stick, smart and relentless. There’s never a game that you’ll leave thinking: ‘Oh man, Stecher was coasting out there.’
He’s all in, all the time, even when things aren’t going his way.
And it sure didn’t look like they were going his way back in October.
But lately, Stecher has been playing more and has been deployed in a bigger role since Bo Horvat was injured. In fact, during the 17 games Horvat has missed, you could make the case that Stecher has been among the Canucks’ best two defencemen. Since the Horvat injury, he’s the only regular blue-liner with a shot-differential above 50 per cent, meaning the Canucks are controlling more than half the shots on net when he’s on the ice.
Given how poorly this defence has played over the past six weeks, that’s pretty impressive. So is the change in playing time. Stecher’s minutes are up significantly. In October, he was playing 15:50 per game. This month, while teamed much of the time with Alex Edler, he’s at 20:38 per game, almost all of those minutes at even strength.
“When I was going through that adversity, it was more confidence than anything,” Stecher said.
“But once I talked to coaches, sat down with them and started to understand where I was in their system and plans, and understood the reasons behind it, I gained confidence.”
In one of his more revealing moments on the Canucks’ recent road trip, Stecher was asked if he thinks he’s now playing his best hockey of the season.
“I think so,” he said. “... It was about me maturing as an individual, realizing where I am in the organization, on this team and in this lineup.”
He’s a big part of the future for the Canucks, a key player in the defensive corps.
And maybe the Canucks should think about him on the power play again. Their blue-line corps has combined for one power play goal on the season. Derrick Pouliot leads the defence with five power play points. Michael Del Zotto is second with four.
Stecher had eight power play points as a rookie last season.
The power play has been good, but could it be better? It may be worth a look.