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When you look at the Vancouver Canucks’ shot map from the first 25 games of the 2018-19 season, one thing stands out: too many shots from the slot.

When you look at the same map, but for when Troy Stecher is on the ice, the picture changes, remarkably.

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Shots from the slot are no longer a thing.

In fact, the data shows that when Stecher isn’t on the ice, the Canucks are giving up shots at a rate well-above average from the slot; when he’s on the ice, the rate becomes well-below average.

To say that the Richmond-raised defenceman is having a solid season is an understatement.

“Keep it simple stupid, that’s what I always learned from my old man,” he said about how he approaches the game. “Didn’t really understand it at a young age, but I definitely understand it now.”

Stecher’s simple game is obvious. He’s really good at breaking up rushes into the Canucks’ zone and he’s very good at preventing passes into the middle of the ice. Credit strong skating and smart hockey sense.

In November, just over a third of opponents’ entries into the Canucks’ zone were made with control of the puck while Stecher was defending, which is a very solid number. (As a comparison point, against Erik Gudbranson, about twice as many opposing-zone entries were made with control of the puck.)

Seven defencemen have filled most of the Canucks’ ice time this season, and at even-strength, all are between a minute of ice time of each other, Chris Tanev leading at 16:18, Michael Del Zotto the lowest at 15:06.

Stecher’s 15:27 puts him right in the middle.

When he’s on the ice, the Canucks are getting 52 per cent of the shots, which lines up nicely with the aforementioned shot maps. (The attacking shot maps also show the Canucks are getting much better shots with him on the ice than not.)

Some of this strong shot-attempt percentage is the fact that his coaches have looked strongly toward Stecher when the team is down a goal — the Canucks have played about a quarter of their even-strength ice time while down a goal — a scenario that generally sees the trailing team get more shots than the leading squad.