The Rangers prepared to take the ice Friday night against the Penguins without their captain, Jacob Trouba, who was traded to the Ducks before the puck dropped in exchange for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a 2025 fourth-round pick, The Post’s Larry Brooks confirmed.
There was no salary retention in the deal for the Rangers, who were able to move all of Trouba’s $8 million cap hit off the books.
Two years, three months and 28 days since the ‘C’ was stitched into his No. 8 jersey, Trouba – the 28th captain in franchise history – faced the same fate as the 27th and 26th.
The Rangers had been looking to move on from their captain since the summer, but the organization was hellbent on it now more than ever amid the team’s downward spiral.
Trouba was given at least a pair of trade options, according to Brooks, but it is believed the 30-year-old defenseman was told he’d be placed on waivers if he did not accept.
Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury has indeed spoken with Trouba. In fact, the two spoke multiple times both in a group setting and one-on-one, including Friday morning.
Head coach Peter Laviolette said he also had discussions with Trouba, the Rangers leadership and the whole team.
After all, the Rangers still had a game to play Friday night. And with Trouba held out, Victor Mancini was recalled from AHL Hartford and slotted into the lineup alongside Zac Jones.
“I can’t say it’s not tough,” Mika Zibanejad said. “Especially with coming in and you’re preparing for a game and you know about it. I don’t know what the books say about how you handle these things and what you do, but until there’s more information, we just got to try to focus on the game tonight. It’s a big one for us. Need to get a win here.”
This past summer proved to be the beginning of the end for Trouba and the Rangers.
The Rangers had intentions to trade Trouba, just like they did Ryan Callahan in March 2014 and Ryan McDonagh in February 2018. His recent play had him in line for a third-pair role this season and the organization could’ve used his $8 million cap hit elsewhere.
Despite his 15 no-trade list kicking in this last summer, however, Trouba did not want to uproot his family.
When signing his seven-year, $56 million contract with the Rangers in July 2019, after he arrived in New York via trade from Winnipeg as a pending restricting free agent, Trouba had his five-year no-movement clause (NMC) designed to coincide with his wife, Dr. Kelly Tyson-Trouba, and the completion of her three-year residency at a New York hospital.
Her residency was deferred for a year at the start, so she was projected to finish in July 2025 instead.
The Troubas also welcomed their first child, Axel, in January.
Trouba’s on-ice performance to start this season appeared to be influenced by the offseason.
The captain who chucked the helmet in December 2022 to turn the whole season around, was not giving the 2024 Rangers what they needed to do the same. It was most likely subconscious, but Trouba did not seem to have the same commitment to the team he clearly felt spurned by this summer.
Through 24 games this season, Trouba has collected zero goals and six assists to go along with 22 penalty minutes and a minus-three rating.
This marks the Rangers’ first official move toward retooling the lineup, but it is not expected to be the last. Due to a few no-move clauses, however, not every Ranger is eligible to be traded at the moment.
Zibanejad has not waived his no-move clause, The Post has learned, which means the Swedish center is not going anywhere for the time being.
Additionally, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck have no-move clauses.
Adam Fox, who signed a seven-year, $66.5 million deal in Nov. 2021, also has a NMC that kicks in for the next two seasons before it turns into a no-trade list the final two years.
The Rangers wanted to trade Trouba this summer, but the 12-year NHL veteran needed to stay.
Now, it doesn’t matter what anybody wants. The Blueshirts believe this is what they need.