Rangers GM Chris Drury owes Jacob Trouba a quick decision on trade plans
Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba looks on against the Lightning in the third period of an NHL game at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 7. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
With the NHL Draft behind him, Rangers general manager Chris Drury now will pivot his attention to free agency as he attempts to beef up his team’s roster and close the gap on the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. The free-agent signing period begins at noon Monday.
But as the starting gun signals the race to sign free agents, Drury also has to address other issues, beginning with what is going to happen with his captain, Jacob Trouba, who was the center of trade rumors at the draft over the weekend in Las Vegas.
Reports had Trouba, whose full no-move contract becomes a modified no-trade contract Monday, on the verge of being dealt to his hometown Detroit Red Wings in a move that would open up salary-cap space and give Drury more money to spend as he chases after the biggest free agents.
Drury will be looking to land one of the big fish — Sam Reinhart, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault et al — as he tries to find a solution for the hole at right wing on the Mika Zibanejad-Chris Kreider line.
It’s past time to find someone to play with those two, who haven’t had a suitable running mate since a salary-cap crunch forced Drury to trade Pavel Buchnevich to St. Louis in 2021.
(Jake Guentzel’s rights were traded from Carolina to Tampa Bay on Sunday, which means he’s off the board.)
As he tries to build a Stanley Cup winner, finding a worthy partner for Zibanejad and Kreider has to be priority No. 1 for Drury. Moving all or part of Trouba’s $8 million cap hit would go a long way toward helping the Rangers land one of the top free-agent options.
But if Drury is going to do it, he owes it to Trouba to do it quickly.
Trouba has been a good player in the five seasons he’s been with the team since coming over in a trade with Winnipeg in the summer of 2019. He’s also been a fine captain for the last two seasons. He deserves more respect from the organization than to be left twisting in the wind like this while all of social media clamors for him to be traded without letting the door hit him in the backside on the way out.
Doing it quickly would be best for both parties. If Drury can complete a trade before noon Monday, that would help the team, too.
Presuming he would need to retain some of Trouba’s cap hit, it would help Drury to know exactly how much available cap space he has to work with when he presents his offers to the free agents.
According to PuckPedia, the Rangers have $13.695 million in available space under the NHL’s $88 million salary cap for next season, working with a roster of 11 forwards, four defensemen and two goaltenders. They need to re-sign restricted free-agent defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider. They likely also will want to add a center who would be a hedge against injury-prone center Filip Chytil or would at least replace Barclay Goodrow as the fourth-line center.
If signing Lindgren, Schneider and a bottom-six center costs, say, $7 million total, that would leave $6.695 million to pay for a first-line right wing and a seventh defenseman.
That won’t be enough to sign the likes of Reinhart or Stamkos, though. So if Drury is going to trade Trouba, retain some salary and maybe get some salary back — if the trade brings back a player and not just draft picks — then knowing exactly how much space he’ll have is crucial for Drury.
Or it will tell him whether he has to scale back and look at some lower-cost options such as Patrick Kane, Tyler Bertuzzi or Tyler Toffoli. It might determine whether it would be best for him to pursue a first-line winger in a trade in which he can move forward Kaapo Kakko, who needs a fresh start, as part of the return package.
Speculation has Carolina restricted free agent Martin Necas potentially available for trade, as well as perhaps Toronto’s Mitch Marner, who has one year left on his current contract at a $10.9 million cap hit. A couple of old friends, Buchnevich and Anaheim’s Frank Vatrano, probably could be had as well.
Potential free agent signings
Tyler Toffoli, 32 – RW – Winnipeg. Had 26 goals for the Devils before being traded to Winnipeg at the deadline last season. Veteran guy, knows the area, a more cost-effective solution than some of the top guys available.
Jeff Skinner, 32 – LW/C – Buffalo. Bought out of the final three years of his contract Sunday. Lower cost option who had 24, 35 and 33 goals in the last three seasons. Would need to switch to right wing.
Tyler Johnson, 33 – C – Chicago. Two-time Stanley Cup winner with Tampa Bay would need to take a lot less money than the $5 million per he earned in his last contract. But after three losing seasons in Chicago, maybe he’d be willing.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.