Article content continued

Stecher has to play with an edge because going quietly into the night isn’t going to get him here permanently.

“It’s natural for them to think I’m small and not as tough, but I think I take guys (like Hertl) by surprise and I can use it to my advantage,” said Stecher. “For every negative, there’s a positive. But I know I can’t be complacent, and some nights I’m going to be off and that’s just part of the learning process.”

In the 3-on-3 overtime, Stecher looked comfortable with Tuomo Ruutu and Emerson Etem. And even when he had to hustle back to his own zone to break up a pass, he followed up by hammering Joonas Donskoi into the end boards. His battle level, speed and poise are why the Canucks pursued the college free agent so hard in the summer.

“When you can squash the neutral zone and transition quickly you’re going to put points on the board,” said the Richmond native. “But at the end of the day, I’m just trying to be reliable and gain the trust within the coaching staff.”

That’s happening in spades. In a pairing with Alex Edler, he looked comfortable, had two shots, two hits in 24:44 of ice time. Stecher also doesn’t require waivers and it’s a good bet he’s going to log some NHL games this season while growing his game with the Utica Comets.

“I had a taste of 3-on-3 in college (North Dakota) and kind of got caught out there tonight at the end of my shift, but at that point you’ve got to find a way,” he stressed. “You’ve got to battle through all the adversity and find a way to survive.”

bkuzma@postmedia.com

twitter.com/benkuzma