Henrique thrilled for opportunity to chase a Cup with the Oilers
March 7, 2024
Oilers 2024 Trade Deadline Wrap
March 8, 2024Oilers Acquire Stecher
EDMONTON, AB - NOV 12, 2023: Ken Holland addresses the media at Rogers Place. Photo Credit: Oilers TV
March 7, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg
The Edmonton Oilers continued to add to their team by acquiring Troy Stecher from the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.
The 29-year old Richmond, BC native has 108 points in 487 NHL games with the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Calgary Flames, and the Coyotes. Stecher has one goal and four assists in 45 games for the Coyotes this season. He also has seven points in 21 career playoff games. He got into seventeen playoff games with the Canucks in the bubble in 2020, and four more with the Kings during their first round series loss to the Oilers in 2022.
Stecher skates well and is more of a mobile defenceman than a physical, shut down type. According to Golden Boy, Stecher is excellent at retrieving pucks in his own zone and creating chances off the rush. Surprisingly, he has a five on five goal share of 28-24 (53.85%) in 732:07 on a terrible Coyotes team this season. According to Puck IQ, that includes outscoring elite competition 10-3 (76.9%) in 192:54. Stecher has played 41.7% of his ice time against middle competition, which is a little bit high for a player that has mostly played on the third pairing in limited games this season. He will not be an every day player for the Oilers. He will be the seventh defenceman on the roster that will simply be there for insurance in case of an injury.
Bob Stauffer has said repeatedly that the Oilers would be adding a veteran defenceman at the trade deadline, and Stecher is exactly that. Stauffer also specified that it would be a right-handed defenceman, and Stecher is right-handed. The Oilers already have Philip Broberg as an insurance policy on the left side. I don’t think this is a case of Broberg being so terrible that the organization felt it had to spend an asset to get someone to play above him. It’s insurance on the right side. This allows Broberg to keep playing huge minutes in Bakersfield. Broberg could be an option for the Oilers in the playoffs once the Bakersfield Condors season is over.
Stecher carries a cap hit of $1.1 million, and the Coyotes are not retaining any money in the trade according to Chris Johnston. PuckPedia has reported that the trade is Stecher and a 2024 seventh round pick (via Boston) are going to the Oilers in exchange for a 2027 fourth round pick.
According to PuckPedia, the Oilers can add up to $1.01 million in annual cap hit today or $1.04 million in annual cap hit tomorrow with their current roster of 22 players. That includes today’s transactions. Dylan Holloway and Sam Gagner were sent down to Bakersfield prior to the Stecher trade this morning. The Oilers have another roster spot for a forward, but another forward from the current roster would have to be moved to create cap space for said forward. That $1.04 million would not be enough to add Tyler Toffoli or Jordan Eberle without another contract headed out the door even with 75% retention.
While the odds of the Oilers adding another scoring winger are quite low, Seravalli did report that the Oilers are monitoring Eberle’s situation in Seattle. The Oilers still have a 2024 second round pick, and they’re already trading picks in the 2027 draft. Warren Foegele is an impending UFA that likely won’t be re-signed by the Oilers according to Seravalli. Sam Carrick’s addition makes Derek Ryan expendable, but Ryan is signed through next season while Carrick is an impending UFA. Connor Brown will be a healthy scratch against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday evening. The only real value that Brown was adding to the Oilers was his work on the penalty kill, and the Oilers just added two penalty killers in Henrique and Carrick. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Related: Oilers Acquire Henrique and Carrick
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