After playing mostly with McCabe during his Toronto tenure, Stecher was paired up with Ekman-Larsson on Saturday against Ottawa.
Troy Stecher has brought it all to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The defenseman joined the club via waivers in mid-November and has proven to be invaluable in numerous ways. Stecher has appeared in every game the Maple Leafs have played since arriving in Toronto, tallying one goal and five assists, and averaging 20:11 of ice time through 18 games.
Immediately, the Maple Leafs chucked him on a pairing with Jake McCabe while Chris Tanev was out with an injury. They were a pair ever since, until Tanev returned to the Maple Leafs' lineup on Dec. 23 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The number one thing about Stecher is that he plays with passion, which has made him a quick fan-favorite in this city.
After a hard-fought 7-5 win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, Stecher, who was in a scrum during the final whistle, raised his hands to the sky several times, asking for the crowd to make some noise.
"It was unreal," smiled Max Domi, who had three assists on the night.
"Stech is the man. He's honestly one of the most competitive guys I think I've ever played with," Domi continued. "He competes every shift, and that scrum at the end, obviously, a big division win, and he's on the ice scrumming it up. I mean, hey, it's emotional. It's what you want."
Fans inside Scotiabank Arena listened to Stecher and showed their appreciation for a Maple Leafs team that's won back-to-back games at home. It capped off what was an emotional game against a Senators team that was playing Toronto for the first time since being eliminated by them in the playoffs last spring.
"You love to see that passion come from the ice," added captain Auston Matthews. "You knew coming in, it's a divisional opponent. Two teams that don't really like each other much. Obviously, history, especially with the playoffs from last year.
"It was an emotional game, a passionate game, and it was going to take until the last second, the last buzzer to get the job done."
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Nick Robertson, who tallied a goal and an assist in the win, grinned when he was asked about Stecher's post-game fire-up.
"I love it. He's a great guy. I love seeing that."
When Stecher joined the Maple Leafs, he admitted he's played with a chip on his shoulder for his entire career because of his size and how many times the defenseman was told "no" early in his career.
"I've reached, obviously, the NHL now, and it's my 10th year. It's my 7th team, so I always try to prove people wrong," Stecher said following his first practice with the Maple Leafs on Nov. 17.
"More than anything, just prove myself right. That's just where it comes from internally."
And since, Stecher has done that and more.
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Unless you knew the 31-year-old's story before he joined the Maple Leafs, you likely weren't expecting him to make this much of an impact in his short stint. I certainly didn't. But time and time again, Stecher has proven he can stick wherever he plays.
Toronto is luck to have him.
"He brings a lot of energy every night, this guy. And plays as hard as anybody that I've coached," said head coach Craig Berube on Saturday night.
"I mean, he's full boar everywhere. I think it's rubbing off on our team, I really do believe that. He's played extremely well for us since we got him."