Huge night for Troy Stecher, the smallest of Maple Leafs, vs Panthers

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The 31-year-old has been a rather stunning pickup for a Toronto team no longer running out of hope or defencemen

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Published Dec 03, 2025  •  Last updated 55 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

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Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Troy Stecher (28) skates with the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)Article content

The NHL guide lists Troy Stecher at 5-foot-10 and 184 pounds.

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The NHL guide lies.

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He might be 5-foot-9 when he’s wearing his skates. He might weigh 184 if he’s holding his skates while standing on the scale.

He is not the preferred size of Brad Treliving or Craig Berube defencemen, but size and sense and logic and opportunity don’t begin to define this confusing aspect of this confounding Maple Leafs season.

Stecher, 31, came to the Maple Leafs on waivers from the NHL team most in need of defensive help, the Edmonton Oilers. So how does this make sense?

Stecher has made the rounds

He came to the Oilers after Vancouver tired of him and Detroit after that and then in order Los Angeles, Arizona and Calgary said thanks but no thanks to Stecher, who was waived so many times no one officially knows what the actual count is.

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Ten seasons of kicking around in the NHL has found Stecher, trying to hang on as a small man playing a big man’s game, making his way across Canada, province by province, with stops in British Columbia, Alberta and now Ontario.

It’s seven NHL stops in all. This was Tuesday night in Florida and Stecher was wearing the Maple Leafs colours on defence and quite possibly having the greatest individual night of his career.

He played 24 minutes and 26 seconds on defence for the Leafs. Those are all-star minutes for most defencemen.

Stecher played a ton, scored a seeing eye goal, assisted on another in a sound and impressive 4-1 win over the champion Panthers. He has played more minutes in his career — maybe once — but never in a situation that mattered as much as this game mattered.

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Playing for the defensively inept Oilers, Stecher was just a guy. A disposable guy.

The last two games he played in Edmonton, he totalled 22 minutes of ice time.

He played more than that in Tuesday’s win over Florida, playing a regular shift, getting some penalty killing time, being plus-four on a night the Leafs scored four goals.

Proving himself with Leafs

Yes, this is Troy Stecher. Who doesn’t fit what the Leafs think or believe in philosophically but has been a rather stunning pickup for a Toronto team no longer running out of hope or defencemen.

The Leafs scored four goals, and even more importantly, allowed just one goal against on Tuesday night in Sunrise. The same Leafs scored seven on Saturday night in Pittsburgh, allowed just two against the Penguins. On that night, Stecher played almost 24 minutes in partnership with Jake McCabe and wound up with an assist and a +3 distinction.

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The Leafs season hasn’t completely turned on a waiver acquisition but the pickup has more than helped. In Florida, Stecher scored the game’s first goal, was in on the second goal by suddenly contributing Dakota Joshua, and was on the ice when Scott Laughton scored his first goal of the season to basically provide the scoring that wasn’t involving an empty net.

A goal by Stecher. A goal by Joshua. A goal by Laughton. Two assists from Bobby McMann, who has his second two-point game of the season. The first one came Saturday night.

Stuff is somehow working out for the Leafs right now and some of it is unexpected.

What coach Berube thinks

And the coach loves this kind of hockey, this kind of effort, this kind of pace, this kind of unexpected balance. It may not be pretty to watch but Berube hockey is hardly firewagon. More like fire station hockey.

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The coach admits rather honestly that he didn’t know much about Stecher when the Leafs grabbed him on waivers. He knew the name just as every coach knows the name of just about every player who has been around this long.

But you never really know a player until you have him. And he likes what he sees in Stecher, even if this a temporary blip of this Maple Leafs season. He likes the competitiveness of the player, the way he plays quickly, the way he moves the puck, the way he skates, the kind of energy he brings to the Toronto lineup.

These Leafs happen to love each other even if others may not share their internal bliss. The team was so happy for McMann’s two assists, for the Laughton goal, for all Stecher has brought to the club, for another solid night from Joseph Woll in goal, for another Joshua score after such a dreadful start.

“It’s huge,” said Stecher, who has rarely been described that way in his career. Huge for the Leafs to be out of last place in the East and on their way to 13th in the Eastern Conference.

One step at a time.

ssimmons@postmedia.com
x.com/simmonssteve

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