Maple Leafs’ Stecher Giving Everything Team Needs on Defense

Diving deeper with his underlying numbers at five-on-five, Stecher is already among the team leader in a number of key offensive categories with a minimum of 100 minutes. He has the best goals for percentage (71.43%), scoring chances for percentage (55.75%) and high danger chances for percentage (70.45%) while also having the second-best expected goals for percentage (57.15%). It’s a small sample, but that kind of offensive impact is impressive.

Stecher started off playing most of his minutes with Dakota Mermis and got results. Lately, he is getting more ice time and was promoted to play alongside Jake McCabe on the second pair and hasn’t looked out of place with the added responsibilities. While the pairing has seen a number of shot attempts against, when they get going the other way, they have a GF% of 85.71% and a HDCF% of 68%. 

While he’s getting results offensively, it’s his demeanour within his own end and in transition that continues to be a standout in his game. The Maple Leafs have struggled on breaking out quickly as turnovers and bad passing attempts have hurt them in the goals against department. However, Stecher has provided a great amount of consistency, being effective in getting out of danger with the puck swiftly out of the defensive zone. He’s quick on puck retrievals to regain possession and even when defending he’s active while also being aggressive in any battle on the ice.  

Even though he’s smaller in size at 5-foot-10, 184 pounds, he shows no quit to his game and it has shown every time that he’s on the ice. He mitigates the damage in his own end, something the other defenders have struggled to accomplish.

You could say that he has been the Maple Leafs best defenseman since he joined, which is saying a lot. 

Playing to be a Regular

Now with his seventh team, Stecher has been constantly trying to prove himself. Eight games into his stint as a Maple Leaf, things are going extremely well. He knows that everything is on the line, that he needed to have a strong impact for his new team and is delivering. 

Stecher has quickly become an important piece for this team with a number of key defenders out in Tanev and Carlo. He’s getting the results with McCabe as his partner and while that will last for the time being, when everyone is healthy, things could change. This is essentially an audition for when Tanev and Carlo return, as Stecher is looking to not just be a temporary fix but a permanent solution. 

It’s possible that he could get bumped down, but as a right-shot, Stecher could very well provide the balance they need on the blueline. He’s a player that can thrive in any role that he’s in. The intensity he brings and composure he has with the puck within his own end is also resonating with the team. He would still be a perfect fit as McCabe’s partner and Tanev and Carlo could have other roles. Could Tanev be with Morgan Rielly as a defensive specialist and Carlo on the third pairing with Oliver Ekman- Larsson for balance? 

While it’s too early to think of this, it could be a mistake to take Stecher out of the lineup, given the impact and results he has made with his new team. Many were thinking of making a major move to fix the defense, but a small addition with him has quickly paid dividends for the Maple Leafs as he could be a key player going forward.

Statistics from Natural Stat Trick.