Defenseman Troy Stecher is returning to the Arizona Coyotes on a one-year deal worth $1.1MM, per Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg.
Bringing Stecher back into the fold provides the Coyotes with a defenseman with more than 250 games of NHL experience, and he immediately becomes the most veteran player slated to take a spot in their top six. It also gives the player some familiarity after he’d played with four different teams in the past two seasons.
At one point a very solid two-way defender, Stecher’s play largely fell off with Arizona after signing as a free agent before last season, posting just seven assists in 61 games. He did, however, show signs of life after a late-season trade to Calgary, where he matched his point total with the Coyotes in just 20 appearances, although he still didn’t quite manage to capture his previous level of proficiency on the defensive side of the game.
He should slot right back into a third-pairing role, battling for playing time with Victor Soderstrom, Joshua Brown, and Michael Kesselring among Coyotes right-shot defenders.