The Detroit Red Wings continued rebuilding their roster on Saturday afternoon, adding defenseman Troy Stecher.
UPDATE: The #RedWings today agreed to terms with defenseman Troy Stecher on a two-year contract. pic.twitter.com/XesHsfmlBu
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 10, 2020
Stecher was linked to the Red Wings pretty much immediately after Vancouver failed to give him a qualifying offer. His two-year deal reportedly carries a $1.7 million salary cap hit.
With Stecher in the fold, Detroit’s blueline appears to be set for the coming season. Assuming that none of the Red Wings’ prospects currently playing in Europe come back for the start of the NHL campaign, they would be able to roll out pairings something like this:
Danny DeKeyser – Filip Hronek
Patrik Nemeth – Troy Stecher
Marc Staal – Jon Merrill
Alex Biega
Jersey number geek notes: This is Detroit’s fourth free agent signing of the season who had been wearing a number that’s unavailable with the Red Wings, as Stecher wore #51 for the Canucks. He wore #2 with North Dakota and while that’s currently assigned to Joe Hicketts, Hicketts seems to have lost his chance in Detroit. I wonder if they might assign Hicketts a different number and give Stecher #2. I could also see Stecher getting #52 with Jonathan Ericsson gone.