Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Troy Stecher

Oilers Notes: Bowman, Ekholm, Hyman

at CDT | by 1 Comment

In an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Edmonton Oilers General Manager Stan Bowman, spoke highly of the Oilers’ two defensive additions throughout the regular season, John Klingberg and Jake Walman. Bowman had always believed that the Oilers’ defense was the most glaring issue, saying, “That was something that struck me early in the season.”

The relationship between the Oilers and Klingberg began in November. Bowman articulated that Edmonton needed a capable puck-moving defenseman to play behind Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and that was the reason the team went after Klingberg. Bowman said, “We started talking to him in November, knowing he wouldn’t be back (from injury) for a while. But that was the style of player that I thought would really complement our group. Of course, you think of the defensive side, but I thought we defended well as a team.”

That was largely the same reasoning he used for pursuing Walman at the trade deadline. LeBrun quoted Bowman saying, “Walman is along the same lines, because I believed in the group we had on the defensive side. I felt if we could add to it, this was sort of the look that I was hoping would come to be.” The two have been instrumental in the Oilers’ run to the Western Conference Finals, combining for seven points in 27 games with a +19 rating, averaging more than 19 minutes of ice time per game.

More notes from the Oilers:

  • Staying on Edmonton’s blue line, Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic recognized the strong play of defenseman Troy Stecher and the harsh reality eventually coming his way. In five games this postseason, Stecher has averaged an exceptional 100.0% on-ice save percentage at even strength, allowing Edmonton to play him without hesitation. Unfortunately, given the other pieces on the blue, Stecher will be the one removed from the blue line once Mattias Ekholm returns. Still, thanks to his play over the last several games, the Oilers won’t hesitate to put him back in the lineup should there be another defensive injury.
  • As noted in a new article from Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com, one player who’s stepped up his game in the postseason after a difficult regular season is Zach Hyman. In the article, which our readers are encouraged to read in its entirety, he blamed concussion issues and the fact that he wasn’t considered for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off as the reason he scored half as many goals as he did during the 2023-24 campaign. Still, he’s been phenomenal in the postseason, scoring five goals and 11 points in 14 games with 109 hits.

Oilers Notes: Hyman, Arvidsson, Stecher

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Oilers goal-scorer Zach Hyman will return to the lineup tonight against the Blue Jackets after missing five games with an undisclosed injury, Tony Brar of Oilers TV reports.

Hyman will return to his usual top-line role alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and take first power-play unit reps, Brar adds. The 32-year-old was having an incredibly tough time before the injury, limited to three goals and eight points in 20 games after scoring a career-high 54 goals last season.

He was shooting at just 5.9%, a trend that will surely reverse as the season progresses, given his 13.4% career average. The Oilers went 3-2-0 without Hyman in the lineup and sit fifth in the Pacific Division with a 13-10-2 record, although they could leapfrog the Flames for fourth place tonight if they win against Columbus and Calgary drops its game against the Blues.

Here’s more out of Edmonton:

  • Viktor Arvidsson has already missed nearly a month with a similarly undisclosed injury. After being listed as day-to-day for weeks, head coach Kris Knoblauch said today that he’s been downgraded to indefinite (via Brar). Knoblauch said Arvidsson’s injury “hasn’t been healing as we hoped,” not a promising proclamation for a player who only had five points in 16 games prior to getting hurt. He’s on regular injured reserve, but after missing tonight’s game, he’ll be eligible for a retroactive LTIR placement if Edmonton needs some additional short-term salary cap flexibility.
  • Defenseman Troy Stecher will be on hand against Columbus after leaving Tuesday’s loss to the Golden Knights after taking a Tomáš Hertl shot to the ear, reports Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic. The 30-year-old depth piece has three points in his last four games and has slowly become more of a regular fixture for Edmonton, last serving as a healthy scratch on Nov. 3. In 21 appearances this season, he has three assists with a -3 rating. He’s averaging 14:46 per game, and the Oilers are controlling 50% of shot attempts with him on the ice at even strength.

Oilers Pathway Toward Cap Compliancy

at CDT | by 6 Comments

If their cap struggles weren’t already bad enough this summer, the Edmonton Oilers were struck a significant blow last week when the St. Louis Blues signed defenseman Philip Broberg to a two-year, $9.16MM offer sheet and forward Dylan Holloway to a two-year, $4.58MM offer sheet. Oilers’ general manager Stan Bowman has until tomorrow to match both or either respective offer but could allow both to walk and receive draft compensation in return.

PuckPedia gave a solid breakdown of how Edmonton could find its way back to salary cap compliance after the separate trades that brought Vasily Podkolzin to Alberta and sent Cody Ceci to the San Jose Sharks. The salary cap website asserts that if the Oilers place Evander Kane on long-term injured reserve to start the year, send down Troy Stecher and Derek Ryan, and call up prospect Matt Savoie to the NHL, they will be compliant to start the 2024-25 NHL season if they choose to match both offer sheets.

All things considered — this is a decent scenario for Edmonton. Savoie gives the team a low-cost option to plug into the top six and allows the team some flexibility with newcomers Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson on the wing. By moving either Skinner or Arvidsson down to the third line, Holloway could play the wing on the team’s fourth line while moving Mattias Janmark to fourth-line center in this scenario.

The team would still have seven available defensemen to choose from to start the year and Stecher likely would have been light on playing time regardless. Josh Brown and Ty Emberson could split time based on matchups leaving Edmonton’s only glaring hole at the fourth-line center position.

Edmonton is not necessarily out of the woods just yet as it’s uncertain when Kane will ultimately return from his offseason surgery. It’s expected he will be placed on LTIR to begin the season which will keep him out of the lineup for the first 10 games and 24 days of the 2024-25 NHL season. Once the season begins, however, the Oilers will again be in a situation where tough decisions must be made. The Oilers could still allow both players to walk giving them just over $6MM to start the year after placing Kane on LTIR.

It will be interesting to see how aggressive GM Bowman is in bringing back two pieces that haven’t had much opportunity with the organization up to this point. All in all, even with clearing Ceci’s salary and having a clear pathway toward cap compliance to start the year —  it will take some time for Edmonton to exit this precarious scenario.

Oilers Sign Jeff Skinner, Mattias Janmark, Troy Stecher

at CDT | by 8 Comments

6:30 p.m.: Edmonton is also seeing Mattias Janmark return on a three-year, $4.35MM contract, per Seravalli. It’ll cost them $1.45MM against the cap through 2026-27. The Swede is coming off a career-worst year offensively, limited to only four goals and 12 points in 75 games, but was a key part of an Edmonton penalty kill that clicked at 94.3% in the postseason. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal adds that depth defenseman Troy Stecher is returning on an undisclosed deal. Edmonton later confirmed Stecher’s deal is a two-year, $1.575MM pact ($787.5K cap hit).

5:49 p.m.: The Oilers are expected to add winger Jeff Skinner in free agency, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports. It’s a one-year deal worth $3MM, Seravalli adds.

Skinner, 32, became a UFA after the Sabres bought out the final three seasons of the eight-year, $72MM pact he signed back in 2019. He’s had varying results throughout the contract, which carried a $9MM cap hit and was coming off a middling 24 goals and 46 points in 74 games in 2023-24.

However, he did become one of the higher-ceiling options available on the market upon his buyout. That’s because he’s got a claim to fame that few other UFA wingers have – a 40-goal season under his belt. He’s also only one year removed from a career-high 82 points and +15 rating in 79 games with Buffalo.

And what better way to unlock that potential than putting him into an Oilers top six, potentially on a line centered by Leon Draisaitl and fresh free-agent add Viktor Arvidsson on his right flank? He immediately jumps out as one of the better value signings of the day, especially after outproducing Evander Kane (who he’ll likely challenge for second-line duties) in slightly fewer minutes on a worse team.

Skinner won’t be a major defensive upgrade on whoever he pushes down the lineup. He’s not a terribly physically involved player and has consistently owned poor individual chance-prevention metrics. But he does have a knack for finishing, especially at 5-on-5, helping balance out an Edmonton offense that can occasionally be too power-play reliant.

With Skinner on the books, Edmonton still has roughly $2.75MM in projected cap space remaining, per CapFriendly.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Oilers’ Troy Stecher Out For Season With Ankle Injury, Requires Surgery

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

While Oilers defenseman Troy Stecher hasn’t played in the postseason, it was widely assumed he’s been a healthy scratch. That isn’t the case, as Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 reports he’s out with an ankle injury and will require offseason surgery.

Stecher, 30, has sparingly practiced with the team since last dressing in their regular-season finale against the Avalanche over a month ago. The Oilers downgraded from a fourth-round pick to a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft to acquire him from the Coyotes at the trade deadline for added injury insurance on the blue line.

Unfortunately, he won’t get a chance to play in his first playoff contest since 2022 with the Kings. The Vancouver-area native had two assists and a +4 rating in seven games with Edmonton after the trade while averaging 16 minutes per game, proving he would have been a reliable option to insert into the playoff lineup if necessary.

It’s not good timing for offseason surgery for Stecher, who’s a pending unrestricted free agent after completing the $1.1MM deal he signed last summer. If he’s able to land another NHL deal and build on his 494-game career, he likely won’t sign until closer to training camps after rehabbing from his procedure – unless the Oilers opt to bring him back next season and re-sign him before July 1.

Stecher’s absence leaves 22-year-old Philip Broberg as the top option to enter the lineup if Edmonton loses a defenseman to injury or suspension. The 6’3″, 200-lb Swede was the eighth overall pick in 2019 and spent most of the season on assignment to AHL Bakersfield, where he excelled with 38 points and a +11 rating in 49 contests. He’s made 10 postseason appearances for the Oilers across their 2022 and 2023 runs but averaged just 6:31 per game.

Oilers Acquire Troy Stecher

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Oilers have added depth defender Troy Stecher and a 2024 seventh-round pick from the Coyotes, per a team release. Edmonton is sending a 2027 fourth-round pick to Arizona in return.

Stecher, 29, has now been dealt at the trade deadline for the third consecutive season. He was picked up by the Kings from the Red Wings in 2021-22 and was sent from the Coyotes to the Flames last season before returning to Arizona on a one-year, $1.1MM contract last summer.

Edmonton is absorbing all of Stecher’s cap hit. They now have just over $1MM in deadline space with one open roster spot, so, as Derek Van Diest of NHL.com reports, GM Ken Holland is likely done with his pre-deadline moves.

In Stecher, the Oilers pick up a veteran right-shot d-man to stabilize their group of depth defenders. He had one goal, five points and a +5 rating while averaging 18:26 per game in 47 contests with the Coyotes.

With nearly 500 games of NHL experience, Stecher will likely battle Vincent Desharnais for a spot on Edmonton’s second pairing, flanking Darnell Nurse. While Desharnais is less of a household name, he’s been considerably more effective at controlling possession quality this season, posting a 56.7 xGF% compared to Stecher’s 47.3 xGF%, per Hockey Reference. In all likelihood, Stecher will factor in as the Oilers’ extra defender when the postseason begins, barring injuries.

Stecher’s departure (and the potential departure of Mathew Dumba) means more ice time for the Coyotes’ less-tested complement of right-shot defenders down the stretch as they face another season without postseason play. Sean Durzi is a natural right shot but has been playing his off-side on a pairing with Michael Kesselring, but could shift back to the right on a different pairing down the stretch. 2019 11th overall pick Victor Söderström, who’s played just once in the NHL this season, is waiting in the wings in the minors and could get called up to shoulder some minutes, too.

Stecher will be a UFA at the season’s end. While the Oilers have just one pick in the first four rounds of the 2024 draft after parting with their first-rounder for Adam Henrique yesterday, they now have five in the final three rounds after picking up a seventh-rounder from Arizona today, which originally belonged to the Bruins.

Former NHL defenseman Jordan Schmaltz was first to report that Stecher was heading to Edmonton.

Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic was first to report that the Oilers were parting with a fourth-round pick, while Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report that a seventh-round pick was heading to Edmonton.

Central Notes: Zaitsev, Murphy, Athanasiou, Stecher

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Struggling to keep their defensive core intact through multiple injuries this season, the Chicago Blackhawks could see the return of Nikita Zaitsev rather soon, as the veteran defenseman returned to practice today (X Link). Unfortunately, as highlighted in the same report, Chicago will have to wait for the return of Connor Murphy, who has recovered slower than expected from his lower-body injury.

Although keeping the likes of Zaitsev and Murphy in the lineup each night would ultimately make the Blackhawks a more competitive team this season, they are still in the middle of their rebuild, without having any intention of competing in the Western Conference anytime soon. Being that it is never positive when a player gets injured, it becomes a touch more bittersweet in Chicago as the team can call up prospects to test their mettle at the top level without much pressure on their shoulders.

This season alone, the Blackhawks have been able to graduate defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Louis Crevier to the NHL level, and both have shown flashes of being regular parts of the lineup moving forward. Nevertheless, especially in the early years of their rebuild, Chicago will have to balance calling prospects up too early and giving them meaningful minutes at the professional level, meaning veterans such as Murphy and Zaitsev still hold a valuable spot on the active roster.

Other Central notes:

  • Staying in Chicago, Mario Tirabassi of CHGO Blackhawks reports that although forward Andreas Athanasiou has recently been a full participant in practice, there is still no timetable for his return. Signed to a two-year, $8.5MM contract extension at the end of last season, Athanasiou has only mustered 11 games for the Blackhawks this season after suffering a lower-body injury in early November. With one more year on his contract after this season, Athanasiou still has plenty of time to recover from his lost season to recoup some value potentially.
  • Moving southwest, Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports is reporting that the Arizona Coyotes will see the return of defenseman Troy Stecher tonight in their game against the Montreal Canadiens. Stecher has missed the last 13 games for the Coyotes after suffering a lower-body injury on January 20th. Choosing to return to Arizona after a trade deadline deal with the Calgary Flames last year, Stecher has suited up in 42 games for the Coyotes this season, scoring one goal and five points while averaging 18:41 minutes a night.

West Notes: Zaitsev, Athanasiou, Vlasic, O’Brien, Stecher, Kuzmenko

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Blackhawks defenseman Nikita Zaitsev’s knee injury sustained in January was more severe than previously assumed, head coach Luke Richardson said Saturday (via Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times). Zaitsev sustained a bone fracture along with his knee injury and, while he’s returned to off-ice workouts, won’t return until mid-March.

The 32-year-old sustained the injury in a Jan. 16 game against the Sharks and has been out of the lineup for over a month, missing Chicago’s last 14 games. The Moscow native had two goals, five assists, seven points, and a remarkable +2 rating on a bottom-feeder Blackhawks team in 26 games, although he averaged only 15:56 per contest.

Zaitsev will be a UFA this summer after completing his albatross seven-year, $31.5MM contract extension signed by then-Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello in 2017. He has yet to sniff the career-high of 36 points he set during his rookie season with Toronto in 2016, and he’s only once posted a positive expected rating in his eight-year NHL career. If he remains in the league past this season, it’ll likely be on a league-minimum deal.

Other updates from the Western Conference:

  • Sticking with Chicago, forward Andreas Athanasiou continues to progress in his recovery from a lower-body injury as he practiced in a full-contact jersey for the first time Saturday, according to Pope. The 29-year-old has not played in over three months, missing 46 games. The speedy winger disappointed through the first month of the campaign, recording four assists in 11 games and logging one healthy scratch, averaging 12:45 per game. Chicago signed him to a two-year, $8.5MM extension last summer after he racked up 20 goals and 40 points for the second time in his career last season.
  • Sharks veteran blue-liner Marc-Édouard Vlasic is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and could miss up to a week, head coach David Quinn said Saturday (via Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group). Vlasic sustained the injury in practice yesterday and will sit after playing in 14 straight games, his longest stretch of the season. It’s been a difficult campaign for the 36-year-old Sharks lifer, who was a frequent healthy scratch through November and December as his all-around game continues to decline. Once regarded as one of the top shutdown defenders in the league, Vlasic’s 41.3% Corsi share at even strength is second-worst among full-time Sharks defenders this year, only ahead of rookie Nikita Okhotyuk. He carries a $7MM cap hit through the 2025-26 season.
  • The Coyotes will activate enforcer Liam O’Brien off injured reserve ahead of Sunday’s game against the Jets, head coach André Tourigny said (via Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports). The fourth-line winger missed the last five games with an upper-body injury and had been a healthy scratch twice in the prior three games. The 6-foot-1 29-year-old is in his third season in the desert, racking up eight points and 116 PIMs in 49 games this year. Defenseman Troy Stecher, who’s been out for over a month with a lower-body injury, will not be ready to go tomorrow but could return as soon as Tuesday against the Canadiens, Morgan added. Both players are on IR, but the Coyotes have two open roster spots, so no corresponding transactions are necessary to activate them over the next few days.
  • Flames winger Andrei Kuzmenko will miss tonight’s Battle of Alberta with an illness, coach Ryan Huska said (via Eric Francis of Sportsnet). The middle-six scoring winger has been up-and-down since Calgary acquired him from the Canucks in the Elias Lindholm trade, notching three goals and one assist in eight games with a -2 rating. He hasn’t seen an uptick in ice time since moving across provincial lines, averaging 14:06 per game with Calgary compared to 14:21 with Vancouver. He’s signed through next season at a $5.5MM cap hit.

Coyotes Troy Stecher Out Four-To-Six Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Arizona Coyotes have announced that defenseman Troy Stecher is out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. Stecher has appeared in 42 of Arizona’s 44 games this season. He’s recorded five points, 20 penalty minutes, and a +7.

Stecher is in his second stint with the Arizona Coyotes, starting last season with the team but getting traded to the Calgary Flames ahead of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. He re-signed in Arizona on July 1st, inking a one-year, $1.1MM contract. The Coyotes are one of five NHL teams that Stecher has played for, with his career headlined by four seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. Stecher has accumulated 482 career NHL games and 108 career points – an impressive mark for the undrafted defender who didn’t sign his first pro contract until his age-22 season – joining the AHL’s Utica Comets for four games in the 2016-17 season.

The Coyotes’ depth will be tested with Stecher set to miss significant time. The team is already facing injuries to Barrett Hayton, Travis Boyd, and Vladislav Kolyachonok – limiting their ability to ice an ideal lineup. The Yotes will have to turn to Juuso Valimaki, who has operated as the team’s seventh defenseman recently and has six points in 30 appearances this season. This injury likely also means an expanded role for Josh Brown and Michael Kesselring – a duo that’s operated as the team’s bottom pairing in recent outings.

Coyotes Nearing Extension With Andre Tourigny

at CDT | by 6 Comments

There has been mutual interest between the Coyotes and head coach Andre Tourigny about a possible contract extension.  It appears that the deal is basically in place as PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports (video link) that both the term and money of an extension have been agreed upon.  At this point, the delay in announcing is tied to Tourigny’s desire to get his assistant coaches new deals as well.

Those assistants would be John Madden and Mario Duhamel along with goalie coach Corey Schwab.  Blaine Forsythe is also a part of Tourigny’s staff for the upcoming season but he was hired less than a month ago so his contract has already been taken care of.

The 49-year-old has been the bench boss for Arizona for the past two years and while his 53-90-21 record isn’t particularly exciting on the surface, the Coyotes are certainly in the middle of a rebuild.  To their credit, they’ve been a fairly competitive squad most nights in spite of the fact they haven’t iced the more talented team in many of them.  Tourigny has received plenty of praise for how his team has performed while establishing a positive team culture which helped entice veterans Nick Bjugstad and Troy Stecher to return after being moved as rental players at the trade deadline.

Tourigny is already under contract for the upcoming season so there is no immediate rush to get something done.  However, Morgan suggests that everything should be in place before the Coyotes travel to Australia to take on Los Angeles in a pair of exhibition games later this month.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top