Former Penticton Vees defender Troy Stecher was traded in the National Hockey League on Sunday from the Detroit Red Wings to the Los Angeles Kings. In exchange for Stecher, the Wings receive a seventh-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft.
Stecher, a 27-year-old from Richmond, BC, has a goal and an assist in 16 games with Detroit this season. He’s missed a significant portion of the season with an upper-body injury he suffered in November.
He signed a two-year contract with Detroit worth a total of $3.4-million as an unrestricted free agent in 2020 after four seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. In 346 career NHL games with the Red Wings and Canucks, Stecher has 15 goals and 88 points. He’s added three points in 17 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The blueliner played three seasons in the BC Hockey League with Penticton, winning the Fred Page Cup, Doyle Cup, and RBC Cup in 2012 as part of arguably the greatest season in Canadian junior A history. He was also named Top Defenseman at that year’s RBC Cup. Stecher led all BCHL defenders in assists in 2012-13, earning a spot on the Interior Conference First All-Star Team and winning Interior Conference Top Defenseman.
He served as Vees captain in 2012-13 and alternate captain in 2011-12. In 159 games in the Peach City, Stecher finished with 18 goals and 109 points. He added four goals and 21 points in 39 BCHL playoff games.
Before heading to the University of North Dakota, Stecher also represented Canada West twice at the World Junior A Challenge, tallying a goal and an assist in nine games. At UND, he had a three-year career, culminating with an NCAA championship in 2016.
With the Fighting Hawks, Stecher ended up with 13 goals and 53 points in 119 career NCAA games. He signed an entry-level contract with the Canucks as a college free agent in 2016.
Stecher is due to become an unrestricted free agent this summer after earning $2.2-million in the final year of the contract he inked with the Red Wings in October 2020.
