While he was used somewhat sparingly in his first few games, understandably so given he had to adjust to a new system, Stecher immediately took on a bigger load than he was expected to, and starting on November 29 in a 7-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, he went on a streak of ten games where he played at least 20 minutes, tallying a goal and four assists for five points over that stretch. In a season that’s seen a brutal mix of underperformance and injuries, Stecher has been a calming, stable presence on the back end, and had the Maple Leafs been able to win enough games to keep them firmly in the playoff race, you could argue that he was an MVP of sorts for them.
As we enter the Olympic break, the reality of a playoff berth doesn’t seem nearly as likely as it would have back in November. The Maple Leafs dropped six games in a row, including the entirety of a five-game homestand in January, and they are now six points back of the Boston Bruins for a playoff spot and faced with the reality of a re-tool at the deadline rather than firmly etching themselves as a buyer or a seller. There have been talks of the Maple Leafs potentially selling off some of their unrestricted free agents (UFAs) to recoup some assets, but given that they’re without a first-round pick, they don’t want to hand a top-10 pick to their divisional rival Bruins. Stecher is one of these UFAs, and if the idea is indeed to re-tool and try again next season, the Leafs should look to extend him rather than trade him.
Stecher is the definition of an NHL journeyman, a ‘suitcase’ in his own words. He’s bounced around from team to team, routinely finding himself on the waiver wire or the trade block, and when he arrived in Toronto, you got the sense that he was tired of that label and wanted to find some stability somewhere.
“It’s my tenth year [in the NHL], and it’s my seventh team,” Stecher told reporters after arriving in Toronto. “So, I just want to prove people wrong and more than anything prove myself right. That’s where it comes from internally.”
While Stecher’s value has showcased itself nicely to the Leafs, it’s probably safe to assume that his perception around the league hasn’t changed all that much. I’m sure he would be an attractive trade chip for buyers who are looking to add depth to their defensive corps, but he’s probably not among the top-three most valuable trade chips the Leafs currently have. They could probably get a mid-round pick for him, but if anything, the Leafs need higher-end draft picks rather than more fourth or fifth-rounders.
It’s probably safe to assume that, if the Leafs were to extend Stecher, he probably has stability at the top of his priorities as opposed to looking to cash in and earn a significant raise. If there’s a world where they can extend him at a similar price tag to Simon Benoit (3 years x $1.35 million), or even comparable to some of their depth forwards like Bobby McMann (2 years x $1.35 million) or Steven Lorentz (3 years x $1.35 million), the Leafs would be far better off keeping him for a run next season and giving him the stability that he hasn’t really had since his days with the Vancouver Canucks, or to a lesser extent, the Oilers.
“I mean, the 25 guys in that room, we have a belief and that’s all that matters,” Stecher said after the Maple Leafs’ win over the Calgary Flames on Monday. “And the east is tight, man. Like, we’ve got an important one tomorrow. You don’t want to look too far ahead, but I think we’ve got, like, 18 games against our conference after the break. So, there’s a lot of belief in that room and a lot of hockey left to play.”
Assuming the Maple Leafs look to improve their defensive corps this offseason, the Leafs would be far better off locking Stecher up as their bottom pair right-handed defenceman who can jump into the top-4 when needed, as opposed to continuing the Simon Benoit/Philippe Myers experience on the bottom pair. They are likely going to be fielding offers on players like McMann, Nicolas Roy, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and maybe even Scott Laughton when they approach the deadline, so unless a team comes along willing to break the bank for Stecher, the Leafs would be wise to extend him beyond this year and allow him the opportunity to settle down somewhere with some term.