Rangers captain ‘happy to be here’ despite trade rumors: report
Despite a multitude of offseason trade rumors, Jacob Trouba is happy to remain with the New York Rangers and holds no ill will against the team nor its general manager Chris Drury.
It was widely reported that Drury tried to get early access to Trouba’s 15-team no-trade list prior to July 1, hoping to deal the Rangers captain and free up money ahead of NHL free agency. Trouba provided the list right before the July 1 deadline, likely killing any chance the Rangers had of moving him and his $8 million salary cap hit the next two seasons.
Now it’s August, the Rangers roster appears set after defenseman Ryan Lindgren agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million contract ahead of salary arbitration this week, and Trouba is preparing for his sixth training camp with the Blueshirts in September.
“It was fine,” Trouba told The Athletic in a Q&A on Thursday. “It’s part of the business. I knew that part of my contract turned this year (to a no-trade list), and I submitted a list. That’s what I did. All the other noise was pretty much noise.
“I’m happy to be here. I’m excited to go into the season. Great opportunity ahead of us.”
Through the first five seasons of his current seven-year deal, Trouba had a no-movement clause and that changed to a list of 15 teams the 30-year-old could be not traded to. Reportedly, he included his hometown Detroit Red Wings as one of the teams on his no-trade list to squash a potential trade between them and the Rangers.
But he insisted there are no bad feelings between him and the Rangers.
“Yeah, they were great the whole time,” Trouba explained. “Even going back years prior, me and ‘Dru’ have always had a good relationship. We can speak to each other when we want to. He has a lot of trust in me, I think, and I’m grateful for that. We’re excited to get started this year.”
Vince Mercogliano of USA Today reported July 1 that Trouba was “not pleased with the way this has gone down.” It had become a personal matter to Trouba since he didn’t want to be traded and be forced to move because his wife Kelly Tyson-Trouba still has one year remaining to complete her medical residency in New York.
Now that the Troubas remain in New York, all seems to be forgiven.
Related: Ryan Lindgren believes Rangers ‘right there’ as Stanley Cup contender
Jacob Trouba ‘excited’ for upcoming season with Rangers
Trouba had some obvious ups and downs last season and he was widely criticized for his play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, particularly against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final. He finished the postseason with one goal and six assists and was minus-three over the final four games of the conference final, when the Rangers lost the final three games (each by one goal) after taking a 2-1 series lead.
After the Rangers were eliminated with a 2-1 loss in Game 6, it was revealed in exit interviews that Trouba had sustained a broken ankle late in the regular season. The ankle injury cost him 13 games in March and he was scoreless in his final nine regular-season games. He dropped to the third defense pair with Erik Gustafsson late in the season but was back on the second pair with K’Andre Miller to start the playoffs. He was back on the third pair to close out the postseason, and is expected to slot in behind Braden Schneider again when the 2024-25 season starts.
No matter his role, Trouba sounded motivated for the new season.
“As hard as the year prior was — losing to Jersey — (when) you lose in the first round, it’s different than losing when you’re close to making the Final,” he explained. “It takes some time and then eventually you’ve got to find it in you to turn the page and use it as motivation to work toward next year.”
Trouba praised the offseason acquisitions of forwards Reilly Smith and Sam Carrick and sounded the part of a team leader ramping up for another run at the Stanley Cup in 2024-25.
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