Rangers react to Jacob Trouba news: ‘We love him to death’
Time ran on Jacob Trouba’s tenure in New York with the Rangers on Friday. The Rangers traded their captain to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
A move of this magnitude impacts everyone in the locker room, and multiple Rangers gave their input prior to the game Friday at Madison Square Garden after word had come down that Trouba wouldn’t play but before the trade was announced.
“I don’t know too much about the situation other than he’s obviously not here,” Mika Zibanejad explained after the morning skate. “That’s a decision between the team and him from what I’m understanding. As a player, as a teammate, as a friend and human being, obviously we love him to death, what he’s done, and what he does for us.”
Trouba spent five seasons with the Rangers after being acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets in June 2019. He played all 24 games this season, registering six assists and a minus-3 rating while averaging 20:00 TOI. Trouba played 364 games with the Rangers, totaling 31 goals, 105 assists, and a plus-16 rating. He averaged 21:42 TOI in those games and blocked 836 shots.
The 30-year-old defenseman was named Rangers captain before the 2022-23 season.
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With his declining play and $8 million annual salary cap hit through 2025-26, Trouba wasn’t a good fit in New York anymore. Couple that with the staggering Rangers losing six of their past seven games, and it’s no wonder why general manager Chris Drury was looking to make some moves to shake up the mix.
Drury tried to move on from Trouba during the offseason, but a supposed trade was shut down by Trouba and his no-move clause at the time. This left a sour taste in the mouth of both Trouba and Drury — and after 24 games this season, it appears the GM has seen enough.
That doesn’t mean his now-former teammates won’t miss him.
“I can’t say it’s not tough, especially with coming in and preparing for a game,” Zibanejad continued. “I don’t know what the book says about how you handle these things and what you do. Until there’s more information we just need to focus on the game tonight. It’s a big one for us.”
Zibanejad is right. The Rangers need to get back into the win column in a big way. They’re separated by only two points from last place in the Metropolitan Division. One team looking to jump ahead of them in the standings is Pittsburgh, which is one point behind New York.
Rookie Victor Mancini was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League to take Trouba’s place Friday on the third pair with Zac Jones.
“He’s an unbelievable dude,” Braden Schneider said about Trouba. “He’s the captain. I’ve looked up to him and I’ve tried to emulate my game after him. He’s been a huge help for me to grow here as a player.”
Schneider was one of the players who’s closest to Trouba. He even earned the nickname “Baby Trouba” from the team, as his play does resemble Trouba’s rugged style. But even Schneider, as close as he was to Trouba, recognizes that this is a business, and that what’s most important is getting the Rangers back on track.
“We’re the Rangers, we’re here to win games,” Schneider said. “He’s a huge part of this team. It’s going to be a challenge, whatever it is, but we’re going to face it as a team and take it day by day.”
While Trouba struggled on the ice in the past couple of seasons, his contributions in the locker room didn’t go away. He was still a great leader for this team and had a large following in the room. How a move affects that dynamic is yet to be seen.
“He’s an amazing teammate,” said K’Andre Miller, Trouba’s longtime defense partner. “He does everything he can for the team, for his teammates. He’s a huge asset for our team, we’re going to miss him tonight.”
Trocheck said he’ll have nothing but good memories of his time in New York.
“I loved it,” Trouba said of his time with the Rangers. “This is fresh, but taking some time to reflect, obviously the captaincy is extremely special. The day I was named captain is something I’ll always remember. Two conference finals, Presidents’ Trophy and even more. So, I felt like I had no clue what New York City was when I got here and I felt I’ve learned and grown so much as a person.
“I found a love for art, I found a lot of different people that I’ve met that I’ll be lifelong friends with. There will always be a piece of my heart in New York, some place I’ll definitely come back to a lot. Also, five years and a bit is a long time and I’m very grateful for all those memories. Now it’s time to turn the page and start something new.”
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