Vincent Trocheck steps up as Rangers leader amid ugly season: ‘I do take responsibility for a lot of it’
It’s been two weeks since the New York Rangers put an end to one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, failing to make the playoffs just one year after winning the Presidents’ Trophy.
Since then, the Rangers have already gotten to work on next season. The Rangers fired coach Peter Laviolette, and gave a multi-year extension to general manager Chris Drury. The latter move, perhaps, was to send a message to the Rangers locker room that the way things are done around the organization is here to stay.
It’s a room without a captain after Jacob Trouba was traded mid-season. If anyone has a fair chance at becoming the 29th captain in franchise history, it’s Vincent Trocheck, who embraced a leadership role over the past few years wearing the Blueshirt, and especially during this past turbulent season. Trocheck too is looking ahead to 2025-26.
“I want to be a part of the reason that we do right the ship,” Trocheck said on breakup day. “We don’t have very many opportunities to win a Stanley Cup and that’s the whole reason why everybody in this locker room plays the game. I’m looking forward to having this summer to figure things out. I have a lot of things in mind that we can work on and get better at. I do take responsibility for a lot of it.”
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There’s certainly a lot to figure out this summer for the Rangers, both team-wide and as individuals. Trocheck finished with 59 points, his lowest total since joining the Rangers three seasons ago. The 31-year-old is heading into his 12th season in the NHL and has four remaining on the seven-year, $39.38 million contract he signed with the Rangers on July 13, 2022.
He’ll be among the candidates to become the next captain of the Rangers, and spoke like one in front of the media after this brutal season was over.
“We saw what we were capable of last year, (2023-24)” Trocheck explained. “We got a lot of time this summer to go back and look at what we can do better. I really believe in this locker room, I believe in everybody, I obviously believe in the talent we have and I just think it’s a matter of us as a team sticking together and figuring out the right way to go about things moving into next year.”
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Vincent Trocheck believes Rangers must handle ‘outside noise’ better
One of the biggest things that seemed to deter the Rangers this season was outside noise. Whether it was high expectations, the trades of Trouba and Barclay Goodrow, the memo sent out by Drury about his willingness to trade long-time Rangers, it clearly got to the players and challenged their mental fortitude.
This season specifically, they did not handle the noise very well — and it showed on the ice.
“There’s always outside noise, there’s always trades that happen,” Trocheck said. “I think it’s on us inside this room in order to make sure that the outside noise doesn’t get to us. Whether that’s talking to somebody individually, or if it’s just sticking together as a team and as a family. I think we can get better at that. Lifting guys up instead of bringing guys down, I think that goes a long way whenever it comes to the outside stuff.”
One of the ways to handle the noise next season will be to get back to old habits. Trocheck will play a key role in this, along with linemates Alexis Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin. All three regressed in production this season after they were one of the most effective forward lines in the NHL in 2023-24.
Trocheck dropped 18 points from the NHL career-high 77 he had in 2023-24. With a hot finish of six goals in the final nine games, he did score his most goals since signing with New York (26). He also played all 82 games for the third consecutive season and led all NHL skaters who took at least 1,000 face-offs with a 59.3 winning percentage — so 2024-25 wasn’t a complete bust for the veteran center.
Lafreniere dropped 12 points and Panarin went from 120 to 89. Laviolette juggled lines as the season progressed, trying to find answers throughout the lineup as the losses piled up.
“Part of it could be just expecting it,” Trocheck said. “You can’t just show up and expect to recreate something without putting effort into it or work into it. Not that we weren’t working at it every day, once you get to a certain point and you’re not succeeding like you were the year before, it starts to weigh on you mentally.”
Once again the mental aspect of the game is something that played a significant role in the downfall of the Rangers’ former top line. It’s one of the things that Trocheck alluded to when it comes to searching for areas of improvement this summer for the Rangers.
Whoever the next coach is, the Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere line will likely get another look. It’d be silly not to. The new coach might realize that Trocheck is a legit suitor to wear the “C” for a team that desperately needs a leader to help them return to the playoffs.
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