It appears Jacob Trouba’s time with the Rangers is nearing an end. Trouba will be a healthy scratch tonight, and will be either traded, or placed on waivers at 2pm Eastern, which would either result in him being claimed by another team by 2pm Saturday, or potentially reassigned to Hartford.
The move would seemingly bring an end to a rocky relationship that began at the NHL Entry Draft, when it appeared that General Manager Chris Drury tried to work a trade of Trouba to the Detroit Red Wings, and then followed it up with a league-wide memo that specifically named him and Chris Kreider as being available as Drury sought to change up his roster.
Per reports, the Rangers have presented Trouba with several trade destinations, and if the current captain does not accept any of them, he’ll be placed on waivers, allowing any team to claim him for just the cost of his remaining contract of $8M for the remainder of this season and next.
Part of the Problem
With the Rangers 8-10-0 in their last 18 games, their once on-track season appears to be in jeopardy. Poor starts and an overall struggle to play a strong defensive game has lead to the Rangers surrendering over 4 goals a game despite their early season goalie heroics from Jonathan Quick and Igor Shesterkin.
While Trouba’s play seemed to have stabilized somewhat in the early part of the season following some downturn, particularly in last season’s playoffs where he returned from a broken foot, his overall body language and demeanor in post game interviews suggested a player who was to some extent going through the motions.
The issue has been compounded by poor play by a number of other veterans, including the likes of Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider, Ryan Lindgren and K’Andre Miller. The core of the Rangers, with the exception of Shesterkin, Fox and Panarin, have largely underperformed this season, and there have been questions as to whether the Trouba situation and the handling of Barclay Goodrow’s placement on waivers over the Summer has lead to some splintering within the team.
Removing Trouba from the equation seems to be the first, and most important step to addressing those concerns, but it does highlight the lack of leadership in the current make-up, with many of the other veterans more doers than talkers.
Accelerating the Rebuild – Trouba Acquired
Back on February 8th, 2018 the Rangers management sent out what is known as The Letter, signifying a commitment to rebuild the club in a new image to be competitive for years to come. The Rangers held onto the path for around 16 months, bringing in untested head coach David Quinn from the US college ranks, and trading away many of their veterans.
The path deviated somewhat in the Summer of 2019, when the Rangers first acquired Jacob Trouba from the Jets, and then enticed star free agent winger Artemi Panarin to sign a seven year contract worth a team leading $11.6M a year. Panarin had played under then President John Davidson at Columbus, and was eagerly welcomed into the fold along with the rugged defenseman
Unsigned, but part of a signature move for Davidson, Trouba’s leverage turned into a lucrative return for the Michigan native, with him ultimately signing a seven year deal worth $56 million. The contract included a full No Movement Clause for the first five years, but converted into a 15-team No Trade Clause over this past Summer.
With Drury seeking to move on from his captain, it appeared he was looking at trying to make a move to send him to the Detroit Red Wings as the GMs gathered for the NHL Entry Draft in Las Vegas. Ultimately no trade eventuated, with Trouba rumored to have used his deadline (July 1st) and 15-team list to potentially stymie any potential move.
Additional context leaked out later, suggesting that Trouba’s reluctance to move was in part tied to his wife serving out the remaining year of her residency, coupled with a young child to look after.
Trading Captains
If indeed a trade does occur today, Trouba will become the third straight captain that the Rangers have traded, with Ryan McDonagh and Ryan Callahan both having been traded mid-season before him.
Trouba became captain of the Rangers prior to the 2022-23 season following a somewhat surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021-22. The appointment ended a period of almost four and a half years without a named leader, after McDonagh had been traded in late February of 2018.
His most famous moment as the Blueshirt leader came that same season, when he became frustrated after a string of mediocre performances ended with a loss to the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks. As he skated off the ice following a fight, throwing his helmet at the boards and shouting at his team to “wake the f___ up!”.
The incident was credited with turning the season around for the Rangers, and helping them return to the playoffs, though they would end up blowing a 2-0 series win and lose in 7 games to the New Jersey Devils.
The 30 year old defenseman looks set to end his Rangers career with 364 regular season games (tied for 85th), 31 goals, 105 assists (tied for 91st) and 136 points. His 329 penalty minutes place him 65th all time.
Trouba has also appeared in 46 playoff games (tied for 55th), registering 2 goals, 11 assists (tied for 66th), 13 points (tied for 95th) and 53 penalty minutes (40th).
What next
In the immediate future, it appears Victor Mancini will roll into the line-up, but presuming the Rangers will be successful in clearing much of his contract, Drury will suddenly have a lot more Cap room in which to make additional changes. Aside from adding more defensive depth, it would not surprise if he also looked for ways to shake up the forward corps, with names like Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Reilly Smith and Kaapo Kakko all having been mentioned in rumors over the past week or so.
Ryan Lindgren could also be an option to move. The veteran has struggled over the past two seasons, and is on a one year contract that will end this Summer.
Whatever might happen, it appears that Drury is ready to try and get the team out of it’s funk.