Detroit Red Wings: Troy Stecher likely a goner in NHL Expansion Draft

As the NHL Expansion Draft quickly approaches, each of the league’s teams has submitted their protected lists. The list gives a better idea as to which players might be taken to make up the Seattle Kraken roster. From the Detroit Red Wings, it’s likely to be defenseman Troy Stecher.

For the full list of who the Detroit Red Wings protected and who they exposed, NHL dot com has a fully updated post with all of the lists. The big standout names on the Red Wings list are Dennis Cholowski, Vladislav Namestnikov, Troy Stecher, and Evgeni Svechnikov.

Given the team’s list, it seems pretty likely that the Red Wings are going to be parting ways with Stecher a year after bringing him in via free agency. The team did opt to protect Nick Leddy, who was recently picked up in a trade with the New York Islanders.

Stecher, on the other hand, will be going into the second year of his two-year, $3.4 million contract. A simple $1.7 million average annual value helped General Manager (GM) Steve Yzerman continue piecing together the team’s defense core heading into the 2020-21 season.

Now that the NHL Expansion Draft is here expect the Detroit Red Wings to lose Troy Stecher.

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It makes sense for the Kraken to be in on Stecher. He’s 27 years old and on the right side of 30. Not to mention, he hails from Richmond, British Columbia, which is just a 2.5-hour drive across the border.

He’s from the area and played his first four seasons in a Canucks uniform to start off his career in the NHL after playing at the collegiate level with North Dakota.

He would end up departing via free agency after the team decided they wanted to use cap money elsewhere, but Stecher fits the build of a player that would do well with the Kraken.

In his first season with the Red Wings, Stecher logged 44 games where he had three goals and eight assists for 11 total points.

It was not a bad start for Stecher, who appears he could be a more than serviceable second pairing guy from the Red Wings.

The Red Wings should be hopeful that the Kraken settle for someone else, but Stecher seems to be a name the Kraken are going to be after as the NHL Expansion Draft comes and goes on Wednesday.

He’s a solid addition to a team being built from the ground up and should be able to contribute with a few solid veterans. Wednesday, the Kraken will make their selection; who knows, it could be someone unexpected, but some of the signs point to Stecher being the best option for them.