(Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DETROIT, October 10, 2020 – The Detroit Red Wings today agreed to terms with defenseman Troy Stecher on a two-year contract.
Stecher, 26, has accrued four NHL seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, totaling 75 points (11-64-75) and 124 penalty minutes in 286 games. Stecher skated in all 69 games with Vancouver in 2019-20, picking up 17 points (5-12-17), a career-best plus-10 rating and 32 penalty minutes in 15:21 average time on ice. He also made his NHL postseason debut and chipped in three points (2-1-3) and 10 penalty minutes in 17 postseason games with the Canucks. The 5-foot-10, 186-pound defenseman also ranked among Vancouver leaders in the regular season with 69 hits (T7th) and 70 blocked shots (4th). Stecher was signed by the Canucks as an undrafted free agent on April 13, 2016 and has played all but four games of his professional career in the NHL, making only a four-game stop in the American Hockey League with the Utica Comets in 2016-17.
A native of Richmond, British Columbia, Stecher spent three seasons at the University of North Dakota prior to turning pro and collected 53 points (13-40-53), a plus-46 rating and 73 penalty minutes in 119 collegiate games from 2013-16. He finished with a well-decorated junior season that saw him win a National Championship with North Dakota, and he was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team, NCAA Second All-American Team and NCHC Second All-Star Team. Stecher also won a championship in the British Columbia Hockey League with the Penticton Vees in 2011-12 and was named the BCHL’s best defenseman the following season after tying for second in the nation in points by a defenseman (8-39-47 in 52 games). Additionally, Stecher made his international debut for Canada at the 2019 IIHF World Championship, capturing a silver medal after contributing three points (1-2-3) and a plus-nine rating in 10 games.
