Pears

Yeah, I think it's because of how much he loved being a Canuck and the way he was treated by management was pretty hard to watch.

The guy loses his Dad this year and is unceremoniously released by the team because of a cap situation that was created by poor cap management. He was never going to be a Top pairing guy but he was definitely a Top 4 guy and was versatile working his way up and down the lineup -- something you need in your depth d guys... and yeah, he's a local.

That said, had Stecher literally waited a few extra hours, he probably could have re-signed with the Canucks. That Ekman-Larsson nonsense is probably why Stecher is a Red Wing instead of a Canuck. He should have waited. That's on him.

Also, I will say, I've read rumblings that the Canucks weren't super comfortable having two undersized d-men on the blueline. Hughes has obviously been a revelation and you pick Hughes over Stecher everyday if that's the case.

I won't be shocked if Stecher finds his way to Seattle at the expansion draft. I've seen lots of mock expansion drafts saying he'd be the pick if he's left exposed by the Red Wings... so I wouldn't be shocked if Stecher becomes a bit of a journeyman going forward.

@Quantum The Ekman Larsson nonsense is a huge factor on why we lost Tanev, Markstorn, Toffoli, and Stecher. Jim Benning basically fouced on one thing. He never even talked to his ufa. He called Tanev after it was being reported he was going to Calgary but Tanev didn't answer his phone. He never talked to Toffoli agent. And with Stecher, he was willing to take a pay cut to stay in Vancouver, howeve after it beacme clear the Canucks weren't getting OEL ,  Benning told Stecher wait becasue we are talking with Barrie and we let you know after if are signing u. At that time he had a offer from the Redwings which he signed. Stecher was not going to wait for Benning to be done talking with Barrie for decision because he did not want to lose the Detroit offer. This was reported by the media. Benning lack of communication killed the chance of signing our UFAs

Give it a couple weeks.  If Rafferty or Benn holds their own on the bottom pairing we'll forget about this and think it's a smart move for letting him go (Schmidt will probably really impress us too).