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“But obviously they get excited with free agency when we sign a guy like (Thomas) Vanek because he had a ton of success in Buffalo.”

However, adulation in this market is fleeting.

Anything Vanek might add to the power play as a right-shot option will be met with angst if he’s a liability at even strength. Same goes for Stecher. As much as he looked comfortable in a reunited pairing with Alex Edler in the pre-season finale Saturday, his nine shot attempts included three that were blocked and three that missed the mark.

That doesn’t go unnoticed in Rogers Arena and it doesn’t escape the media microscope.

“Any press is good press because it’s the way you handle it,” added Stecher,” who added two hits in his 16:35 of ice time Saturday in the 3-2 win over Edmonton. “You let it go in one ear and out the other, or you let it get to you.

“For me, I just take the noise. It’s the support from my family and I just forget about everything else.”

Stecher would like to forget the spectre of the sophomore jinx. But rather than be apprehensive, he’s proactive. He knows what Ben Hutton went through. The wide-eyed college rookie finished second in assists (24) and third in points (25) among rookie defencemen in the 2015-16 season and then slumped to 19 points (5-14) and a minus-22 rating. He never meshed with Erik Gudbranson and never found his comfort zone.

“I was a sophomore in college (North Dakota) and I didn’t have a slump, but obviously you don’t want to think about it,” admitted Stecher. “Teams have a better read on you and I’ve talked to Ben. I’ve talked to a lot of players and my agent and even my family.”