The Maple Leafs have turned to the waiver wire to add some depth on the back end. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they have claimed blueliner Troy Stecher off waivers from Edmonton. To free up a roster spot, the team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Anthony Stolarz has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to November 11th.
The 31-year-old is in his third season with the Oilers after being acquired from Arizona back in 2024. After playing somewhat of a regular role last season when he made 66 appearances, playing time has been much harder to come by in 2025-26. This season, Stecher has only played in six games and has been held off the scoresheet while adding three blocked shots in just under 14 minutes per night of playing time.
In his 10-year NHL career, Stecher has played in 566 games with six different teams and hasn’t been with a franchise for more than four seasons. He has 22 goals and 95 assists to his credit along with 629 blocked shots with a 17:25 ATOI.
Knowing that a cap crunch was coming with Zach Hyman nearing a return (he was officially activated earlier today and will make his season debut tonight), Edmonton had been looking to move Stecher in recent weeks. Clearly, no move came to fruition which resulted in yesterday’s waiver placement. With Stecher coming off the roster, the Oilers now have $212.5K remaining in their LTIR pool, per PuckPedia.
Toronto is currently without blueliner Chris Tanev who is out with an upper-body injury sustained in his first game after returning from a concussion. His injury has resulted in Dakota Mermis serving as the reserve defenseman in recent weeks. It’s possible that Stecher is being eyed as an upgrade for that spot although he could push Philippe Myers for playing time as well.
Stecher is in the final season of a two-year, $1.55MM contract which carries a $787.5K cap charge, making him a low-cost pickup for the Maple Leafs. He’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
As for Stolarz, he left Tuesday’s game against Boston due to an upper-body injury. Initially listed as out day-to-day, he’ll now miss at least a week past the 11th, ruling him out of Toronto’s next two games. He’s someone who could probably benefit from the rest as the 31-year-old has struggled mightily out of the gate, posting a 3.51 GAA and a .884 SV% in his first 13 appearances. Joseph Woll was recently recalled from his conditioning stint with the AHL’s Marlies and will be in uniform tonight against Chicago with Dennis Hildeby being their other active option.
There it is Biz!
The Leafs are a mess. Flames brass are still cleaning up Tree’s mess in Calgary. He tends to let high end talent go for nothing basically, and then throws darts at the board to see if available players will work (which we find doesn’t). I think we are finding out that Treviling is way over-rated as a GM.
Sure glad the Leafs are stuck with him. At least till the summer.
Clutching at straws …when a life-saver is needed!
Who thinks a waiver claim of a defensive cast-off from the Oilers is a step in the right direction?