Things are not going very well for the Edmonton Oilers at the moment. This week the Oilers blew two 2-0 leads in losses to the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars. As a result, the Oilers only picked up one point on their mini-two game road trip as they lost 3-2 to the Blues in regulation on Monday night and 4-3 to the Stars in a shootout on Tuesday night.
The Oilers are expected to get top-six forward Zach Hyman rather soon after suffering a terrible wrist injury against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals this past spring. As a result, the Oilers are expected to make a move in order to bring Hyman in. One name that is generating a lot of trade buzz at the moment is defenseman Troy Stecher of Richmond, British Columbia.
Stecher’s 2025-26 stats
Stecher does not have a point in the 2025-26 NHL season to date. He has eight penalty minutes, three shots on goal, three blocked shots, two hits, two takeaways, and eight giveaways. Stecher is not expected to help the Oilers generate more offense. They already have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl up front.
Why is Stecher valuable?
The Oilers need a stay at home defenseman at the moment. That is because Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, and Evan Bouchard are making too many defensive mistakes. The Oilers game plan throughout the history of the franchise has always been to take chances. That includes defensemen playing up in the rush on the regular basis. However, at this time, Nurse, Ekholm and Bouchard have combined for 66 giveaways this season already which is simply too much. They are also a combined -16.
Stecher is also only making $787,500 this season. You will not be able to find a better blueliner in the NHL who is making less.
Excellent Stanley Cup Playoff defensively
Stecher played in eight games during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Oilers had a record of six wins and two losses in his eight power playoff appearances. He was also in the game for three Oilers shutouts–a 3-0 Oilers win over the Vegas Golden Knights in game four of the second round, a 1-0 Oilers win over the Golden Knights in game five of the second round, and game two of the Western Conference Finals, a 3-0 Oilers win over the Dallas Stars. Stecher played regularly in the postseason with Nurse, and was credited regularly for making Nurse better.
Oilers seem to be high on Alec Regula
The Oilers seem to be high on defenseman Alec Regula. He was activated off the injury reserve on Tuesday after an undisclosed ailment. However, at this time, I believe the 566 NHL career games for Stecher are more valuable to the Oilers than the 25 NHL career games for Regula, and he should simply not be traded.
Update: The Oilers put Stecher on waivers on November 14 and was claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 15.
