[Signing] Canucks re-sign Troy Stecher

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

 

[Scottish⑦Canuck]

Anyone else think that Hutton is probably out of here?

[Attila Umbrus]

1 hour ago, RetroCanuck said:

Funny how Benning is very good at signing players at good rates who we already have but damn does he overpay in free agency

 

It's more that you have to if you're a team like the Canucks. They have a great city to play in but are rebuilding. You have to pay for what you want to get in Free Agency if you're in this position. Beagle is a perfect example of this. We had the cap space so other teams backed off on us because they didn't want to match the offer, but they rode the price high until they couldn't beat the offer. It's crazy but it happens ever dang year lol.

 

If the Canucks were the Capitals then players would be enticed to sign for less to compete for a cup. Free Agency is more like a game of poker than anything between the players agents and the GM's of the league, everyone trying to out bluff eachother and trying to get the most out of the hand they are given.

[Attila Umbrus]

Congrats Stech, glad to have you back! I hope he gets back some of his offense this year. But he still is an ace defensively. Great cap hit too. No complaints at all!

[Noble 6]

Nice contract. I was expecting 2 years at 2.5-3 million per. And he's an RFA after this contract. 

[oldnews]

You have to like the combination of being driven like Stecher is - with his mobility, hockey intelligence, puxk moving and decisiveness/aggressiveness.

 

I also have to think that having Biega around - and the type of game he plays on his size of the red line - must help.

 

In any event, a good young '3rd pairing' D at this stage with the mix of attributes to improve and potentially move up the lineup.

 

 

 

 

[-AJ-]

Too much money IMO, but it could've been worse and it's only two years. I can live with this. I was predicting $2.5M and wanted $1.8M - $2.2M.

[aGENT]

1 hour ago, RetroCanuck said:

Funny how Benning is very good at signing players at good rates who we already have but damn does he overpay in free agency

 

Rather than just complaining, perhaps ask yourself why that might be. 

 

And unless you're a cup favourite (and even sometimes then) EVERYONE overpays in free agency. Nature of the beast.

 

Anyways...nice deal for Tony Stretcher 

[coryberg]

14 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

Too much money IMO, but it could've been worse and it's only two years. I can live with this. I was predicting $2.5M and wanted $1.8M - $2.2M.

Yeah that extra $300,000 is really gonna hurt us cap wise.

[The Lock]

It's young players with work ethics like his that make me think that we have not seen the best of him yet. It's the ones who are hard working that end up going places in the end, no matter what skill level they start with.

[BCNate]

Nice deal for both.  I was thinking 2 years between 2 and 2.5, so this is great.  

 

[Nuckin Kingsly]

23 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

Too much money IMO, but it could've been worse and it's only two years. I can live with this. I was predicting $2.5M and wanted $1.8M - $2.2M.

So you that extra 100k between what you wanted and what he got means it's too much? I guess  People need to complain about something on here.

 

Solid show me contract. I think stech will have a bounce back offensive year, and we will see him get back into that 25-30 point range, while producing in his own end as well

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

On 7/6/2018 at 11:46 PM, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

I would challenge that belief and say Troy may be asking on that end of the salary spectrum, but I'd look at other comparable RFA's this summer that are similar age to Troy Stecher, but had better numbers statistically in scoring, and in possession numbers, while still averaging the same ice time.  Honestly looking at the numbers of the players

 

Matthew Benning - 2 years at 1.9 mil  https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/b/bennima01.html

Trevor van Riemsdyk - 2 year at 2.3 mil https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/v/vanritr01.html

Conner Carrick - 2 years at 1.3 mil https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/c/carrico01.html

 

All were RFA's this summer, who posted better numbers statistically than Stecher's 11 points, had better corsi possession numbers (all 3 possessed north of 51%), as Stecher was in the mid 40's), and except Conner Carrick, they played similar minutes to Troy Stecher.  

 

IMO, Stech's game really resembles someone like Thomas Hickey.  Touted to give more offense, but settled into a comfy two way role that moves the puck efficiently, and solid defensively.  I think Stecher has room to improve, but I don't see him being a huge point producing dman going forward.  If anything, how he has been utilized last year, and acquisitions of Juolevi, Hughes, Rathbone, who possess more dynamic offensive ability, Stech's deployment is look differently than how he was used in North Dakota or this first year in Vancouver.  Granted Stecher's deployment starts were majority in the defensive zone, but you can already see how Travis Green would prefer to use Stecher, and its not in the offensive zone.  

 

I still think Stecher has room to grow in the offensive zone, but I don't foresee Green changing how he views using Stecher, which is likely going to be as a two way dman, heavily slanted towards being a better defensive player.     You could see even as Stecher improved his game over the season, Green preferred to use him on the Penalty kill instead of the powerplay electing to give Edler, Pouliot, Del Zotto and even Hutton instead of Stecher. 

 

I'd be careful how you pay Stecher, especially if the future projection of using him is less in an offensive role and more defensive.  However, I guess based on how the Canucks have paid premium in trade, salary signings, and etc on defensive emphasis players, I guess its reasonable to suggest Stecher would get more. 

 

30 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

Too much money IMO, but it could've been worse and it's only two years. I can live with this. I was predicting $2.5M and wanted $1.8M - $2.2M.

 

I agree.

 

Based on the other comparable Defensemen/RHD RFA's signed this summer, the salary is a tad rich for me.  But I love Stech, and that Hutton contract really didn't do us any favors and considering Stech was probably our arguably 2nd best D-man last season on a severely mediocre D-core, gave him quite a bit of leverage. At least Stech is showing he is on a good upward trajectory in his development, that it makes it easier to swallow that dollar amount. 

[captainhorvat]

hes living the british columbia dream

[luckylager]

I like that Tony Stretcher kid. Real good Canadian boy there

 

[-AJ-]

23 minutes ago, Virtanen The Great said:

So you that extra 100k between what you wanted and what he got means it's too much? I guess  People need to complain about something on here.

 

Solid show me contract. I think stech will have a bounce back offensive year, and we will see him get back into that 25-30 point range, while producing in his own end as well

Just giving my thoughts. As I said, it's not a huge deal as, as you pointed out, it's only a bit more than the range I wanted. Although that was my range, I feel he's probably worth about $1.9M. It doesn't help that Hutton makes $2.8M and is worth more like $1.5M now. Might've inflated Stecher's deal. 

 

If Stecher can have a bounce back offensive year like you said, this deal will be an absolute steal.

[canuck73_3]

1 hour ago, Scottish⑦Canuck said:

Anyone else think that Hutton is probably out of here?

I'd give him this year to see if he can bounce back. The way he's working out this off season I think he's on the right track. 

[CaptainKool]

3 hours ago, RetroCanuck said:

Funny how Benning is very good at signing players at good rates who we already have but damn does he overpay in free agency

 

As you said it, its free agency, the value there is always higher. You have to overpay a bit in free agency.

[oldnews]

16 minutes ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

had better numbers.... in possession numbers, while still averaging the same ice time.....

had better corsi possession numbers (all 3 possessed north of 51%), as Stecher was in the mid 40's),

this kind of stuff is worthless - or worse, it's misleading - and carries negative 'analtyical' value.

 

Benning had 56.7% offensive zone starts - corsi was 51.6

Van Reimsdyk had 61.0% offensive zone starts - corsi was 55.3

Carrick 58.8% ozone starts, corsi was 52.6

 

Stecher - with 48.5% ozone starts and a corsi of 48.3 not only played the harder minutes of the four, but had arguably the best in-context 'possession' numbers of them as well.  Stecher additionally had a more significant penalty killing role than any of those other D - was trustest more than those three 'comparables' - and played more minutes than any of them at 18:49 ice time / game.

 

People should stop trying to prop up these kinds of oversimplifed and cherry-picked stats when they clearly don't really know what they mean or how little meaning a statement like 'had better corsi possession numbers' holds.  A better corsi tells you very little - does not really indicate who the better 'possession' player is.

 

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

51 minutes ago, coryberg said:

Yeah that extra $300,000 is really gonna hurt us cap wise.

 

45 minutes ago, Virtanen The Great said:

So you that extra 100k between what you wanted and what he got means it's too much? I guess  People need to complain about something on here.

 

Solid show me contract. I think stech will have a bounce back offensive year, and we will see him get back into that 25-30 point range, while producing in his own end as well

Its also called trickle down effect.

 

Remember Ben Hutton's contract?  It widely influenced the leverage for Stecher's party.  You pay a certain amount, players on the team see that and start holding comparables to those.  Its a dangerous precedent that can dictate further negotiations, that will lead you to continuously fork our more money.  Considering how the NHL is such a copy cat league in so many areas, contracts are also areas that players look at.

 

Yeah the extra couple of hundred thousands of dollars may seem pretty insignificant now, but it adds up later when you are negotiating future contracts.

 

Its not a bad deal, but like I had posted above earlier, there are comparable players who are same age, same position, same style of play to Stecher who got less money, and those players like Conner Carrick, Trevor vanRiemsdyk, and Matthew Benning all have better statistics than Stecher.  Like we just saw, previous poorly negotiated contracts like Hutton, got us to play more than what the player is likely worth.  IMO I think Stecher is maybe 1.7-1.8mil Dman, but at 2.325 mil, I wont lose sleep over that overpayment.