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At 5-10 and 190 pounds, Stecher was ignored through three NHL drafts.

Photo by Chris O'Meara / AP files

And yet the Canucks outsprinted a peloton of teams to sign the free-agent defenceman in April after Stecher won a national championship with the University of North Dakota, where he was a teammate of 2015 Vancouver first-rounder Brock Boeser.

“Just the way he plays out there, he’s a high-compete guy,” Boeser said in Shawnigan Lake, where camp ended Friday. “He just plays super hard and tries to be a role model for other people out there.”

Canucks hockey operations president Trevor Linden said: “I went to North Dakota in February to see him and talk to him. This kid has an intensity about him, a focus. You tell him something once, and he does it exactly that way, whether it’s in the gym or on the ice. He’s a leader, a great kid. He’s the kind of kid who will do whatever it takes to be an NHL player.”

This week was a good start for Stecher.

His mobility and transition game looked as good as touted. But what also caught management’s eye was Stecher’s leadership qualities.

Along with elite prospects Demko, 20, and Boeser, 19, Stecher slid naturally into a leadership role among the draft picks/prospects/free agents hoping to build a career in hockey. The Richmond Minor Hockey product was at the front of his group for the many team-building exercises that were part of orientation week.

“In the first couple of days of camp, you could tell he had good leadership skills,” Benning said. “He’s been working out with us all summer. He does everything the right way. That was one of the things when we were signing him, what kept coming out was what a high-character person he was. You hear that, but until you actually see it, you don’t appreciate that.”