Oilers Likely Losing Defenseman In Free Agency

The Edmonton Oilers are going to be making some changes to their back-end this summer. There will be some players headed to free agency and possibly a trade or two. One of the pieces that is reportedly leaving to test free agency is Troy Stecher.

The Oilers acquired Stecher at the deadline as a depth addition in case there were injuries. He got into just seven games for the Oilers down the stretch and none in the long playoff run the team went on. With Philip Broberg moving over and playing the right side in the playoffs, Stecher moved down to fifth on the Oilers' depth chart on the right side.

Jason Gregor reported that Stecher will likely sign with a team he can be a regular in the lineup with in free agency. That won't be with Edmonton, even if the team trades Cody Ceci and lets Vincent Desharnais hit free agency as well.

Stecher didn't do bad at all for the Oilers in his limited games and is an NHL defenseman, whether that be as a sixth d-man or in a little bigger of a role. He should be able to find a team to play for this summer and one team in particular comes to mind, the San Jose Sharks. Their right side is very weak and the team is clearly working to be more competitive next season. We will see how things go for Stecher, but don't expect him to return to the Oilers.