Stecher impressed in his three games playing predominantly on the top pair with Alex Edler, taking more than 21 minutes a night and showing an ability to push the puck up ice, as well as proficiency in the defensive end.
The 22-year-old is a product of the North Dakota system that's produced a glut of NHL talent over the past several years.
Jonathan Bernier has been cleared to return to the Anaheim Ducks' lineup, head coach Randy Carlyle confirmed ahead of Wednesday's game against Pittsburgh.
Bernier has been out for a week with an upper-body injury.
He's made two appearances this season, allowing four goals on 56 shots in just under two periods while posting an 0-1-0 record.
The club heads into Wednesday's game against Vancouver with a record of 8-0-1, and general manager Marc Bergevin gives a large share of the credit for the great start to an attitude adjustment spearheaded by Shea Weber.
"It's a more business-like attitude, it's more calm. A lot more calm," Bergevin said, according to Arpon Basu of NHL.com. "I'm sure it has a lot to do with Shea. If you look at him, I think he has that attitude like, 'You know what? It's just one game, let's move on to the next one.' That's his attitude."
That business-like, one-game-at-a-time perspective is what Bergevin believed the Canadiens needed following a tumultuous 2015-16, wherein Montreal started 9-0-0 only to fall out of the playoff picture altogether following an injury to Carey Price.
Price is back in MVP form, it seems, but it's Weber who's been leading the charge both offensively and defensively - and in other, unseen ways, Bergevin adds.
"What he brings, you obviously see it on the ice, but off the ice, in the room, everywhere, it's his attitude, his behavior, the little details that show he's a real leader.
"Everything that's been said about Shea Weber, it's really that, and even more."
As a rookie last season, the undrafted Condon filled the cratering void left by Carey Price when the Montreal Canadiens superstar went down with injury.
He made 51 starts for Montreal, authoring a .903 save percentage.
Condon's only appearance for Pittsburgh came in relief of Marc-Andre Fleury. He stopped all seven shots he faced, and didn't factor in the decision in a loss to the Nashville Predators.
The Senators' goaltending situation remains fluid with Andrew Hammond out with a lower-body injury and starter Craig Anderson needing the flexibility to be with his wife, who last week was diagnosed with cancer.
Condon provides the club with capable insurance, and likely means they'll continue carrying three goaltenders.
The NHL season is officially three weeks old, and a quick look at the statistical leaderboard reveals a few unexpected names.
Here are three categories where players are stealing the spotlight seemingly out of nowhere.
Goals / Points
With a goal and an assist during Tuesday's win over Calgary, Chicago Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov jumped into first among all NHL players in points with 13.
The goal, a game-winning power-play marker, was Anisimov's seventh in 10 games, putting him in a tie for first with Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Anisimov began the season with two pointless games in which he took four penalties, but he's been on quite a tear ever since.
Artem Anisimov (@NHLBlackhawks), who leads the NHL in points (7-6—13) and goals (tied), pushed his career-high point streak to eight games. pic.twitter.com/PUDKgfg6DS
Anisimov scored a career-high 20 goals for Chicago last season, with the 44 points he recorded in 2010-11 as a member of the New York Rangers serving as his personal single-season best.
Save percentage / Goals-against average
Jimmy Howard appeared on track to lose his starting job with the Detroit Red Wings, or get traded, in light of the emergence of Petr Mrazek as a high-end option in goal.
For the time being, Howard has silenced critics with a ridiculous performance, stopping 110 of 113 shots against for a save percentage of .973.
His 0.86 goals-against average is also tops among all goalies.
It’s sort of revamping the way I play and to be less aggressive and sit back a little bit more, which is allowing me not only see plays develop but also watch how the puck’s coming off a guy’s stick and giving myself that extra split second to react to a shot rather than just being out of the net and hoping it hits you.
Howard has not recorded a single-season save percentage over .910 in any of the past three seasons, and while he's bound to regress at some point, it's yet to be seen just how long he can keep up this play.
Wins
Goalie wins aren't necessarily a great measure of individual success, but it would have been hard to predict that an Edmonton Oilers netminder would lead that category at any point.
That's exactly where Cam Talbot sits, however, with a record of 7-2-1.
It should be noted that Talbot has started all ten of Edmonton's games, and Oilers head coach Todd McLellan will be forced to give him a break at some point in order to keep him fresh when needed most.
For now, the Oilers are the Western Conference's first-place team, and Talbot has helped the club bank some points in hopes of a playoff push.
Talbot tied a career-high with 21 wins in 53 starts for the Oilers last season.
Following Tuesday's 4-0 loss to Anaheim, Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter pointed out as much, offering a pretty clear conclusion as to why his team lost.
"Not a recipe for success tonight when you don’t score and don’t get any saves," Sutter said, per Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider.
The Kings were shut out for the third straight game, their first such scoring drought since 1968-69, their second season in the NHL. They now sit last in the NHL with a goal differential of minus-10, having scored 20 goals and allowing 30 through 10 games.
Compounding the lack of scoring is the fact Jonathan Quick remains out long term with a groin injury, and Sutter was especially critical of Peter Budaj, who was pulled in favor of Jack Campbell after allowing four goals on 16 shots.
"(Budaj) wasn’t very good. I mean, did you look at the shots and scoring chances? He wasn’t very good. That’s clear. I don’t pull goalies very often, but they’re expected to make some saves."
Sutter maintains his goal is to help the Kings stay in the playoff race despite Quick's injury, and said the first step towards turning things around is obvious.
"Score a goal."
The next chance to do just that comes Thursday against Pittsburgh.
First it was a scrap with Austin Watson 68 seconds into the third with his team facing a two-goal deficit and needing a spark. And when that failed, it was a promise to fans that the team will be better than its 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators, which saw Colorado fall to the .500 mark after a promising 3-1 start.
"Tonight, it's got to be said that this was embarrassing, and I promise all the Avs fans out there that this is not going to happen at home again," Landeskog said, according to the team's official website.
Landeskog was sprung into action by the chaos that's crept into Colorado's game. Head coach Jared Bednar suggested the Avalanche are reacting to their opponent, rather than dictating the scheme he's trying to implement.
"It's not at all how we want to play. It's pretty bad," Bednar said. "The first period, we traded chances the whole time, which isn't what we want to do. We created some real good looks. So did they. Then after that, I just felt like their big guys turned it up a notch and we didn't.
"We didn't find the intensity that we needed for the game. So it was disappointing because it's a chance for us to go a couple games above .500, and now we're just spinning in the mud again."
Chabot, 19, was drafted 18th overall by the Senators in 2015 and stuck with the team out of training camp only to appear in one of Ottawa's nine games to date.
Chabot has recorded 108 points in 168 junior games, and will likely represent Canada at the World Junior Championships once again this year.
