When the Letter 2.0 went out, I advocated for the New York Rangers to hold on to Vincent Trocheck unless they received a great offer. Trocheck is a winner, and if this is legitimately a retool and not a rebuild, the Rangers would need to replace him to get back into playoff contention.
However, I’ve come around. Since the Rangers have three centers born in 1993 — JT Miller, Trocheck, and Mika Zibanejad — it makes sense to get younger down the middle. Plus, Trocheck’s 200-foot game and reasonable $5.652m contract make him very attractive.
Trocheck was held out of last night’s 6-2 win over the equally disappointing Toronto Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden for roster-management reasons (along with 34-year-old C Sam Carrick). The odds are he has played his final game with the Blueshirts and will be traded prior to today’s 3p ET deadline.
Now that I’m on board with trading Trocheck, I gave some thought to the returns the Rangers could possibly receive. Here are mock trades for the five teams that are rumored to be leading contenders to acquire #16’s services for the next 3+ seasons.
Special thanks to PuckGM on PuckPedia for help in creating these mock trades.
MOCK TRADE #1 — MINNESOTA WILD
The rumor over the last few weeks is that Wild GM Bill Guerin has an offer sitting on Rangers’ GM Chris Drury’s desk featuring center prospect C Charlie Stramel and the Wild’s 2027 first-round pick. IF Guerin follows my lead and makes the following enhancements, this mock trade could be the winning bid. Stramel, 21, has 41 points through 32 games this season at Michigan State University. D Carson Lambos, 23, is completing his third full season in the AHL.
MOCK TRADE #2 — DETROIT RED WINGS
The 21-year-old C Marco Kasper had 37 points (19 goals, 18 assists) in his rookie year, compared to 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) in the first 61 games of his sophomore season. But his rookie production gives him the advantage over the Wild’s Stramel who plays with similar bite.
MOCK TRADE #3 — CAROLINA HURRICANES
The Carolina Hurricanes have been involved in four high-profile Rangers’ trades over the last 10 years — including deals that netted the Rangers D Adam Fox and C Eric Staal, and the Hurricanes D K’Andre Miller and D Brady Skjei. D Alexander Nikishin, the 24-year-old Russian, has had a decent rookie year after impressing in the KHL. Former 2023 first-round draft pick LW Bradly Nadeau has been a point-per-game player through 106 AHL games.
MOCK TRADE #4 — BUFFALO SABRES
Admittedly, this mock trade is based on the unsubstantiated rumor that the Buffalo Sabres were interested in C Robert Thomas in addition St. Louis Blues’ D Colton Parayko. Also admittedly, if I was running the Sabres, I wouldn’t trade D Mattias Samuelsson, 25, while they are on a heater. But Buffalo has an all-left-handed top 4 and acquiring right D Braden Schneider makes sense for both teams. D Radim Mrtka, 18, is a right-handed shot who was drafted ninth overall last June.
MOCK TRADE #5 — TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Tampa Bay has been on the periphery of Trocheck rumors, but GM Julien Brisebois is one of the most aggressive GMs in the NHL. In this deal, he would be dealing 21-year-old C Conor Geekie and 19-year-old C Sam O’Reilly. The Rangers would not get a first-round pick in this trade, but they would get two of the Lightning’s three top prospects.
