Former Rangers captain No. 1 on dubious top-10 NHL list
It’s not like the New York Rangers have any intention of bringing Jacob Trouba back this summer. But it’s worth noting that their former captain sits atop a dubious Top-10 list of NHL free agents less than two weeks away from another big payday.
Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic compiled a list of 10 free agents that the NHL teams should avoid signing this offseason. And Trouba is numero uno.
Now, that’s not because Trouba’s coming off a bad season. In fact, quite the contrary. The 32-year-old defenseman was a big reason why the Anaheim Ducks ended a seven-year playoff drought in 2025-26, averaging 22:50 TOI in 81 games, leading the team with 149 blocked shots, ranking third with 143 hits, and recording 10 goals and 35 points, his best totals since 2021-22 with the Rangers.
It was a really good bounce-back season for Trouba, after the Rangers traded him to the Ducks in December of 2024 and he finished with just one goal and 14 points in 77 games for the two teams. It was a messy divorce from New York, and his play appeared to be on the decline even during the Rangers’ run to the 2023-24 Presidents’ Trophy and Eastern Conference Final. So his revival this past season in SoCal was a bit of a stunner.
Simply, Luszczyszyn doesn’t believe Trouba, with more than 900 games played in the NHL on his resume, is going to live up to a big-money contract he’ll likely receive this summer. He won’t get as much as he did back in July of 2019, when the Rangers signed him for seven years and $56 million, a contract that aged badly, in all honesty — and led to his ugly Blueshirts departure after the team ended up against the ceiling of the salary cap. But a big-money deal now won’t go well for his next team, either.
“AFP Analytics is forecasting a four-year deal at $6.4 million per season. I think Trouba is worth only half of that,” the respected hockey journalist wrote this week.
And why is that, Dom?
“He looks better, sure, but he’s still very far from clearing the bar necessary to be paid $6.4 million per season and there’s real risk with the wrong fit. At that price, teams are paying for a solid No. 3; at 32, I’m not convinced Trouba has that level in him anymore.”
Former Rangers captain Jacob Trouba best suited to be 3rd-pair defenseman these days
In a thin free-agent class this summer, Trouba ranks highly among available defenseman. Even Luszczyszyn noted that Trouba has more to give and remains a worthy add due to his strong leadership skills and other on-ice contributions. But he sees Trouba as a good third-pair defenseman, not someone who should be helping anchor the top four.
“If a fortunate team can get Trouba for something much closer to third-pair money, he’s worth it for the intangible elements he brings to the table,” he explained. “His expected price tag is much harder to justify.”
Even last season, stats and underlying numbers disclosed concern about Trouba. His expected goal share was a solid 50.50 percent 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick, but the Ducks were outscored 70-60 with him on the ice, including 37-28 in the high-danger variety.
Elliotte Friedman reported earlier in the week that it appears Trouba is “hitting the market” and won’t re-sign with the Ducks before July 1. Anaheim faces a significant overhaul of its defense since John Carlson stated he wishes to return to the East Coast in free agency, Trouba’s on the way out it appears, and captain Radko Gudas is also a free agent.
