Trouba spells Trouble for the Rangers

Trouble clears the zone (Getty)

Trouba clears the zone (Getty)

Jacob Trouba wants to better himself. The 22 year old RFA has asked out of Winnipeg because he feels he isn’t getting the opportunity to grow. The former ninth overall pick has a point because he’s 3rd on the Jets’ right side defense behind Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers.

So will the Jets’ accommodate him? If they do, what will they want and who can afford to pay it?

Rangers Interested

Mention a player’s name worth a damn and somehow the Rangers will be interested.

Hockey Insider, Bob McKenzie mentioned the Rangers of course, but for the record he feels that the Arizona Coyotes are probably the best fit. Another fact is that if he doesn’t sign by Dec 1st, he will not be eligible to play this season.

What Will The Jets Be Looking For?
Zuccarello and Trouba collide.

Zuccarello and Trouba collide.

The words TOO MUCH should fit the bill here, but you can expect them to be looking for young and inexpensive talent. So if you are a Rangers fan and are thinking Rick Nash and Dan Girardi…well you’d be horribly wrong.

Forget that Nash reportedly doesn’t have a single Canadian team on his trade list, the Jets aren’t looking for an over 30 and 7+ million dollar player. The Jets are going to be looking at players like Brady Skjei, J.T. Miller, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes. Do you get the picture?

P.S. Girardi has a no move clause.

Is Jacob Trouba Worth It?

He’s 6’2″, weighs 200 pounds, and has put up over 20 points in each of his first 3 seasons. Furthermore, he is doing it with limited PP time and not playing top pair minutes. Still, he did average around 22 minutes a game last year (81 games) and only scored 21 points. So let’s not make him out to be Bobby Orr.

Here’s the scouting report:

He has a very powerful shot and is quite adept at moving the puck. He can also be found jumping up into play as well. Some scouts project Trouba as an offensive defenseman, but he’ll likely blossom into a two-way defenseman due to his sound play in the defensive zone.
– via Hockey’s Future

Ultimately, what is not to like here? Yes, the kid is worth it.

Why the Rangers Shouldn’t Do It

The answer depends on your feelings about the defense as currently constituted. If you believe that replacing Dan Girardi and Marc Staal with traffic cones is a better option, then you are likely willing to overpay.

If you are like myself and think that they can rebound to help the team this season, then you won’t sell your soul. That is because the Rangers will likely have to move two or maybe three prized young players in order to acquire him.

Right now the Rangers are loaded up front with some young, fast and talented forwards. They also have a nice blend with some veteran experience like Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan and yes, Chris Kreider (he’s been here awhile). If you start taking a Zuccarello and/or J.T. Miller off the team, you put too much pressure on players like Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich to perform.

It is possible they could handle it, but we just started the preseason and there’s no way of knowing that. Again, while Trouba would be a great addition, there are other options out there that could remedy the defense without breaking up these forwards.

Have we all forgotten that Kevin Shatterkirk will be a UFA next July? It’s also possible the Rangers could get him before the deadline as well. So let’s not do anything silly.

Conclusion

Jacob Trouba would look good on the Rangers…and if Jeff Gorton could get him for Brady Skjei and a let’s say Marek Hrvik or even Robin Kovacs then DO IT.

If the move starts to pluck 2 to 3 roster players, then my answer is a resounding NO!.

Anthony Scultore has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL since 2014. His work also appears at... More about Anthony Scultore

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