New York Rangers reportedly working on trade to send team captain to Maple Leafs unfortunately…
The buzz surrounding the New York Rangers over the past week has centered around team captain Jacob Trouba. The 30-year-old defenseman has had his name brought up in trade discussions this week and things seem to be heating up following the NHL Entry Draft on Friday night.
According to Larry Brooks of The New York Post, Rangers GM Chris Drury is working on a deal to send Trouba to the Detroit Red Wings. Trouba would “presumably” accept the trade as a Michigan native. He has a 15-team no-move clause in his contract, but a move to the Red Wings would present an opportunity to play for his hometown team.
Trading away Trouba would be a big move for the Blueshirts as they attempt to clear up some salary cap space for the upcoming free-agency period. Brooks reports that the Rangers would only be on the hook for $2.5 million of Trouba’s $8 million salary if this deal goes through:
“We are told the Rangers may retain $2.5 million per year on the two remaining seasons of Trouba’s $8M annual cap charge,” Brooks wrote. “That represents 31.25 percent retention that would also be applied to the $12M in salary Trouba has coming over the next two seasons. If that does become the amount of retention if this deal goes through, that would clear an additional $5.5M in space…”
Trouba finished the 2023 season with 22 total points and a -4 rating. He received plenty of criticism during the postseason due to his poor performance as he played through an ankle injury.
Despite being the team’s captain, Trouba is likely on his way out of New York this summer. The Rangers will have a hole to fill in their defensive corps, however, they have been keeping tabs on the top free-agent defensemen. Soon enough, the Blueshirts’ roster could take a new shape.
The New York Rangers reportedly have been working on a deal with the Detroit Red Wings that would send team captain Jacob Trouba back to his home state, but things have seemingly hit a snag.
Here is the latest via Elliotte Friedman on a truncated episode of 32 Thoughts following the NHL draft.
Trouba’s NMC clauses downgrades to a modified no-trade clause at 12:01 pm on Monday, and at that point the team can’t trade him anywhere on that list. If Detroit were on that list, the Rangers would have to work out another deal, or they could also consider buying him out as a last resort during the second window.
While waivers is mentioned as a possibility, it’s hard to see any team immediately jumping on a deal worth $8 million a year for the next two years. The Rangers were rumored to be retaining salary in the deal in limbo with Detroit, and that is something that was helping to facilitate that trade.
