Rangers get back to work after Jacob Trouba trade
And on Peter Laviolette’s 60th birthday, the New York Rangers rested.
Actually, Saturday wasn’t actually a complete day off for the Rangers or their coach – there was an optional midday practice. But after a Friday that saw a solid 4-2 win over the division rival Pittsburgh Penguins become almost an afterthought, it was a dose of tranquility after one of the most turbulent days in recent Rangers history.
There was an unfamiliar face at practice. Defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, wearing No. 18 on a green no-contact jersey, was on the ice for the first time with his new team. The 25-year-old defenseman, who hasn’t played since Nov. 13 because of an upper-body injury, said he was running on about three hours sleep after he was traded to the Rangers in the deal that sent defenseman Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks.
“He’s on IR, but he’s out there, so that’s good,” Laviolette said after practice. “He’s starting to mix in. He’s moving around.”
The No. 18 pick (by the Boston Bruins) in the 2017 draft figures to be a bottom-pair defenseman if and when he’s healthy – something that’s been a challenge. Vaakanainen was placed on injured reserve by the Ducks on Wednesday. When asked after practice if his new player was day to day or week to week, Laviolette said only “Somewhere in there.”
Someone who wasn’t there was Trouba, their now-former captain, who figures to make his debut with Anaheim on Monday night in Montreal against the Canadiens. Trouba made it clear after being traded Friday that while he loved New York and playing for the Rangers, he wasn’t thrilled about the way it all ended – going back to the summer, when the Rangers sought to get him to waive his no-trade clause. He also said he was told to accept a trade or be placed on waivers, meaning that he wouldn’t be able to control where he played next.
“I’ll be honest, I was put in a position this summer to make a decision between my career and my family and I chose my family,” Trouba told ESPN on Friday night. “I would choose my family 100 times over again. I don’t feel bad about that. I was happy about it. I don’t like that it was made public necessarily or how everything unfolded so publicly, but I guess that’s part of New York and what happens. It made it difficult to play, kind of with that hanging over everything.
“The result is the result. I’m happy with moving forward, but I’m not overly thrilled with how it went down. In my opinion, things could’ve been handled better. I’m not blaming anybody or anything, just kind of how it happened I thought was kind of unfortunate.”
Trouba had been captain of the Rangers since 2022-23 but said his lame duck status made him ineffective in that role.
“I was pretty open with players on the team,” he said. “Leading was a little bit harder for me in that situation, knowing things were public.”
For now, according to Laviolette, there are no plans to name a successor to Trouba.
“Not right now,” he said after practice when asked about choosing a new captain. “We’ve got a leadership group that we’ve been dealing with the whole time. Right now, we’re moving forward with that.”
The benefit of Trouba’s departure for the Rangers was that they didn’t have to retain any money on his $8 million average annual value contract, which runs through next season. Not only does that give general manager Chris Drury some wiggle room to add players between now and the NHL Trade Deadline, it helped to make possible the other major part of Friday’s craziness.
Not long after the Trouba trade became official, media reports began to surface that Igor Shesterkin was about to realize his dream of being the highest-paid goaltender in NHL history by agreeing to an eight-year, $92 million contract. The Rangers announced the eight-year agreement on Saturday, though the team didn’t reveal money terms, but Puckpedia says it has an average annual value of $11.5 million. That’s $1 million more than the contract Carey Price signed with Montreal in the summer of 2017 – one that the Canadiens will pay through the end of 2025-26 even though Price hasn’t played since 2022 because of injuries.
Related: What’s next for Rangers after Jacob Trouba trade
Coach admits Friday was ’emotional day’ for Rangers
Shesterkin was the first goaltender off the ice at practice Saturday, which indicates that he’ll start Sunday afternoon against the Seattle Kraken, but there was no news about the status of his contract extension.
In the end, Laviolette was pleased with the way his team played Friday after all the hubbub about the trade.
“It’s always a tough day,” he said. “He’s a terrific teammate, (terrific) person, (did a) really good job here with the New York Rangers, being the captain. It (was) an emotional day for everybody. I thought we were able to get past that, and when we got past that we had a pretty decent morning skate, and then that transferred into the game last night. So I think that’s a positive.”
But don’t be surprised if Laviolette takes it easy for the rest of his birthday. Between a roller-coaster Friday and back-to-back home games Sunday and Monday (against the Chicago Blackhawks), he figures to be happy to have a chance to unwind.
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