Oilers Looking To Move On From Troy Stecher

Troy Stecher, Edmonton Oilers defenseman

The Edmonton Oilers have a roster crunch coming. And it sounds like one of the victims could be defenseman Troy Stecher, who was a healthy scratch again Saturday night. The 31-year-old has played just six of the Oilers' 13 games this season, and has no points, while averaging 13:37 of ice time.

According to insider Elliotte Friedman on Hockey Night in Canada, Stecher could be the odd man out with several players returning to the Edmonton lineup.

They got a lot of players coming back from injury, right? Like there’s (Zach) Hyman can come back and (Mattias) Janmark can come back, (Alec) Regula can come back. And one of the names that’s definitely going around there is Troy Stecher... He’s one of the extra D and they have a couple extra right now.
Now it doesn’t necessarily have to be Stecher. Like I think the Oilers have considered a bunch of things, but he is definitely one of the people who is being considered. I’ve heard there is some interest, and I think the Oilers are trying to find him a soft landing.

Stecher, 31, will be an unrestricted free agent after the year, playing out a $787K contract. He's in his 10th NHL season, most of that being spent with the Vancouver Canucks (four years) and the Oilers (this is his third year).

Other d-men like Regula and Emberson are six years younger than Stecher, and are less likely to be moved.

Regula looked good in his first two games back this year from a serious knee injury, and the Oil would like to see more of what the mobile, puck-moving defender can do. He's been limited to just 24 NHL games total over the last few years.

Oilers looking to do right by Stecher, in finding a trade

Stecher played 66 games last year in his first full season in Edmonton, and from Friedman's report, while he will likely be squeezed out of their top six on the blueline, they at least want to do right by him and find him a place in which he could play.