Maple Leafs steal a defenseman from the Oilers.

The Edmonton Oilers have one less defenseman at their disposal today.

On Saturday, National Hockey League insider Chris Johnston broke the news that the Oilers had lost defenseman Troy Stecher after placing him on waivers Friday. A rival team has in fact submitted a claim for Stecher, snatching him away from the Oilers for nothing, with the Oilers Canadian rival the Toronto Maple Leafs being the team with the highest priority claim on Stecher.

Stecher has seen relatively little play for the Oilers this season, only appearing in 6 regular season games thus far, and was placed on waivers Friday in order to make room under the salary cap for the return of injured Oilers forward Zach Hyman. Unfortunately those same salary cap constraints have proven to be a huge benefit to the Maple Leafs, who are desperately seeking answers on their blue line at the moment.

The Maple Leafs have been one of the highest scoring teams in the NHL this season but in spite of that sit with a -4 goal differential on the season due to their issues on the defensive side of the ice. The Leafs, losers of 4 straight games, aren't likely to view Stecher as an answer to their problems but he could potentially be part of the solution to the glaring problem they currently have on their blue line.

Stecher has no points on the season, 8 penalty minutes, and an even plus minus rating of 0.