Late-night Trouba talk from Brooks

The New York Post’s Larry Brooks posted an article which discusses the New York Rangers’ free agency options, but at the end of his article, he addresses Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman’s assertion that potential trade target Jacob Trouba is unhappy with New York Rangers GM Chris Drury and the organization for asking the Rangers’ captain to accept a trade to the Red Wings:

Monday is the day that Jacob Trouba’s no-move clause transforms to a 15-team no-trade list. There are apparently hurt feelings on the part of the captain, maybe even deservedly so over the way the club’s intentions were splashed all over the papers and the internet last week.

But it would be counterproductive for Trouba to put on a pout and attempt to make it as difficult as possible for the Rangers to trade him. Trouba has always played hardball in contract negotiations. He had leverage with then-GM Jeff Gorton after the Blueshirts obtained the defenseman from Winnipeg in 2019 with one year left on his deal ahead of potential free agency that he used to get his current seven-year, $56M contract that has two years remaining.

Now the Rangers have leverage via the limited no-trade clause and have decided they can’t afford an $8M cap hit for a defenseman who is projected to be on the third pair. It doesn’t matter whether he was Captain Courageous playing on a broken ankle in the playoffs or not.

If Trouba does not approve a trade to Detroit that is believed in place, he will ultimately be sent somewhere else, perhaps by waivers. The decision has been made.

Continued; Brooks’ Rangers intel is almost always spot-on, and if he was playing with a broken ankle during the playoffs, that might explain some of the Wings fan base’s concerns with the 30-year-old defenseman’s mobility (or the lack thereof).

I’m not the world’s biggest Jacob Trouba fan, but a right-shot defenseman who can hit like a freight train could indeed become an asset if utilized effectively (read: not expected to be a #1 defenseman).

The Rangers’ captain is a big man at 6’3″ and 209 pounds, he averaged 21 minutes per night last season, and he’s good for maybe 20 points and around 70-80 penalty minutes.

If the Rangers are willing to take a chunk of his $8 million salary, the Pontiac, MI-born Trouba could be a solid fit on the second pair.