Troy Stecher thoroughly enjoyed his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 5-foot-10, right-shot defenceman was acquired off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 15, and he endeared himself to fans and the organization with his intensity and competitiveness.
Stecher is entering unrestricted free agency on July 1 and hopes he will be back in Toronto for the 2026-27 campaign.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I hope I’m back and I really enjoyed being a Leaf,” Stecher told Nick Alberga and former NHL veteran Jay Rosehill on the Leafs Morning Take podcast. “It was great and I have really fond memories playing there. It’s world-class organization.”
Stecher registered three goals and 14 points in 64 games last season, split between the Oilers and Maple Leafs, while averaging 19:11 of ice time.
He is coming off a two-year, $1.575 million deal that carried a cap hit of $787,500.
Whether Stecher is back in Toronto next year will depend on the Maple Leafs management group, which has gone through an overhaul since he was last on the ice for the team.
The Maple Leafs hired John Chayka as their new general manager and Hockey Hall of Fame player Mats Sundin as senior executive advisor of hockey operations.
The team also fired head coach Craig Berube and won the No. 1 overall selection in the NHL Draft lottery.
Stecher says the team has remained in contact with him while he’s been in his off-season home in Scottsdale, Ariz., but is unsure how serious any contract talks have been.
“I’m not going to say there haven’t been talks, there obviously have been, but to what degree?” said Stecher “That’s all on my agent.
“The biggest thing is just the change [around the organization]. There’s so many different categories and topics that I’m sure the organizations want to focus on and dive into, including the draft and July 1.
“There have been some conversations, whether it’s just to check in. I don’t know how serious it is. At the end of the day, I’m hopeful to be a Leaf.”
Toronto had a disappointing season in 2025-26, finishing last in the Atlantic Division with a 32-36-14 record. It marked the first time since the 2015-16 season that the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs after a nine-year stretch where they only advanced to the second round twice.
The lack of playoff success created a lot of discourse about the difficulty playing in Toronto and the pressure there is to win. Stecher acknowledged that pressure exists in Toronto but doesn’t believe that it is much different from any other NHL market.
“I don’t want to say you don’t notice [external pressure], but at the end of the day it’s the same from team to team in the fact that you’re dealing with your fan base and media people,” said Stecher. “[The media] have a job to do, they’re going to ask questions, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
“Some people might say there’s more pressure or more eyeballs or something like that, but once you reach the NHL, I don’t think that’s too big of a factor of what guys are looking for in what they like or dislike. It just comes with the territory.
“You could look at it in a negative way, but at the same time if you do have success in a city like Toronto, it’s probably the greatest thing in the world. It goes both ways.”
Stecher’s move to Toronto marked his seventh team in his 10-year career. His longest stint came at the beginning of his career with four seasons as a member of the Vancouver Canucks, and he recently spent parts of three seasons with the Oilers.
Despite the lack of certainty about where he’s going to play, the Richmond, B.C., native’s main concern is to keep playing for as long as he can, even if it’s not in Toronto.
“To say that I want to play hockey is true, but I want to play in the NHL, and I only want to play in the NHL,” said Stecher. “When you pull back all the layers, at the end of the day I’m just playing hockey. It’s all I’ve ever known and all I’ve ever loved to do, and I don’t take it for granted.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes to do that every single day. Whether it’s the regular season, off-season, or playoffs, I’m going to make sure I’m applying myself to my craft. I’m going to survive in this league for as long as I can and I take a lot of pride in that grind.”
