Maple Leafs’ Stecher shines in reunion tour: ‘Thank God Edmonton let him go’

CALGARY — Troy Stecher lives outside of a suitcase and inside of the moment.

You try bouncing between seven teams over 600-plus games as an undrafted, undersized late-bloomer. You try getting traded and waived and scratched and forever signing short-term deals for what might be your last stop if you dare ease the gas.

Guys like the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ blue line Little Engine That Could, they learn to get comfortable quickly in new surroundings.

And they’re smart and hungry enough to seize opportunities like Monday’s in Calgary — with minute muncher and offensive blueliner Morgan Rielly sidelined.

Funny, Rielly was the Vancouver-bred D-man who was always going to make it. The sure thing with the sweet stride and gaudy stats.

Troy from Richmond was just another ’94 born, just trying to chase Rielly’s rep in Western Canadian minor hockey, then his path to the show.

Funny. You get to a game like this, with Stecher eating some of Rielly’s minutes, and he gets a shot at 4-on-4 and finishes off a play generated by Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

Funny. One teammate is locked into 2030 with a full no-move clause. The other is living every game out of a hotel, home and away, and has no certainty where he’ll end this season or start the next.

Funny. Stecher scores a nifty game-winner in a tight 4-2 victory for the Maple Leafs in Calgary, their first regulation win since Jan. 10.

And, so far, the Maple Leafs are 2-0 in Stecher’s three-game revenge tour through Western Canada. They have a shot to run the table on the righty’s revenge rampage Tuesday in Edmonton.

“I’m a suitcase, obviously,” Stecher cracks, amid three trips back to homes that didn’t keep him. 

“It’s unique. Like, going home to Vancouver — started my career there and thought I’d play my whole career there, and it changed. I’ve built relationships everywhere I went. I’ve enjoyed playing everywhere I went.

“Like, I love being a Canuck. I love being a Flame. I love being an Oiler. And now I love being a Maple Leaf, and that’s where my pride and joy lies. But I’m not oblivious to the memories I have in the past, and very fortunate for those memories.”

If the Maple Leafs — who did lose in shots (30-22) and high-danger chances (14-5) to the rebuilding Flames — pull off the impossible, Stecher will be a core memory of this season.

They’ll also need more game-breaking performances by Calgary’s own William Nylander, whose converted breakaway on Toronto’s first shot was followed by a pair of primary assists.

“Seems like the puck is glued to his stick,” said linemate John Tavares.

“I could just tell he was engaged right away,” coach Craig Berube added. “Skating. Winning all his puck battles. You know, offensive plays, offensive. I mean, he was dialed in.”

In addition to the winner, he led all Leafs with four shots, logged 20-plus minutes and helped kill the bulk of the game’s only power-play.

In a few hours, he’ll return to Edmonton to face a team that scratched him in favour of youth and eventually placed him on waivers.

“Yeah, I’m excited,” Stecher said. “A bunch of great relationships there, a lot of good memories. Never got the job completely done, but just going to war with those guys for as long as I did, I have a lot of respect for them.”

Almost as much respect as Stecher has earned in the Maple Leafs’ room for his dogged and consistent effort.

“Thank God Edmonton let him go,” goaltender Joseph Woll said.

“He’s come in and just filled such a need for us. And what I love about him is, he’s just got a great competitive fire to him, and he’s just got energy,” John Tavares adds.

“He’s vocal and competes hard every shift. Lays it all out there and does a lot of little things well. And he has some good instincts to jump in when the opportunity is there.

“Yeah, we talked about how it’s his western tour here. Finish it off the right way tomorrow.”

Go 3-0 on the Troy Stecher ’26 All-Canadian Reunion Tour, and maybe, just maybe, the defenceman who six teams gave up on isn’t the only longshot here with another life.

“I mean, the 23, 25 guys in that room, we have a belief — and that’s all that matters,” Stecher said. 

“East is tight, man. Like, we got an important one tomorrow. You don’t want to look too far ahead, but I think we got, like, 18 games against our conference after the break.

“So, there’s a lot of belief in that room, and a lot of hockey still to play.”

We counted. Stecher’s correct. Eighteen in-conference games left.

A guy who learns the odds might just be fit to break ’em.

• The Maple Leafs have the fewest power plays in the NHL (131).

They haven’t seen a power-play in three of their past four games (although they did get a penalty shot in Vancouver).

Mikael Backlund punched Woll in the head Monday, and they got offsetting calls (Woll for holding the stick, Backlund for roughing).

Where’d the whistles go?

Tavares: “I’m not sure. I’m not sure. Just playing.”

Berube: “I saw penalties out there tonight, and I saw a tripping penalty late in the third that wasn’t called….

“I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for that. I do, but I’m not going to tell you guys.”

• Inspired trade bait Nazem Kadri made quick work matching January’s goal total in February (one) and added a primary assist for good measure.

“It’s always fun to compete against your friends,” says the former Leaf, with a grin.

Kadri wears a letter in Calgary and, even at age 35, is viewed as the Flames’ best player on many a night. The veteran reflected on his various mentors from his formative days in Toronto.

“Dion (Phaneuf), he’s up there. He’s still a good friend of mine to this day. Colton Orr. Patty Marleau. Guys like that. We had such a great group of vets who showed me the ropes,” Kadri said. 

“I was a little raw when I first came in; I had a lot to learn myself. So, I’m happy I had those guys around.”

• Berube on goalie fights, the NHL’s new hotness: “I mean, why are they fighting? Why aren’t the players fighting? That’s the way I look at it. I don’t get it, to be honest with you.

“I’d rather my goalies not fight. Guy pokes your goalie? One of the players should be doing something about it.”

• Congratulations to Oliver Ekman-Larsson and wife Maja, who are set to welcome their second child in March. Unfortunately, the defenceman will be heading solo to the Olympics while his family stays home.

“Sad and mixed feelings for them not to be able to go, but we know what’s coming,” he says. “It’s getting a little bit closer, and you gotta just be careful with wifey and the baby in the belly.”

• Berube hails from Calahoo, Alta. As player and coach, he’s been rolling through the Saddledome since it opened in the mid-1980s. 

Now, he sees the construction next door on the new barn, Scotia Place, well underway. It’s set to open in 2027-28.

“There’s a little bit of sadness,” says Berube, not sadly. “But it’s time. That’s what happens. It’s time. You gotta get the new rink going, so it’ll be great for the city and the team.”