Grading the Jacob Trouba trade: Ducks gamble on embattled Rangers captain

Anthony Trudeau
Anthony Trudeau(atrud00)
Grading the Jacob Trouba trade: Ducks gamble on embattled Rangers captain
Credit: © Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The Jacob Trouba era is over in New York after the Rangers traded the defenseman, their captain, to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday afternoon.

Trouba’s time in New York probably should have ended in the summer, but he was unwilling to uproot his family by signing off on a trade to the Detroit Red Wings. That decision was well within his rights, but it only increased the laser focus of the New York fanbase on the embattled captain’s mistakes. 

Trouba’s inability to nail down a top-four role (he averaged just 15:11 minutes of ice time in his last two games as a Ranger) despite wearing the ‘C’ was emblematic of the team’s ongoing identity crisis (1-7 since Nov. 20), and GM Chris Drury decided enough was enough.

The Ducks, meanwhile, are betting a change in scenery will reignite something in Trouba, who, at his best, is a fearsome body checker, elite shot-blocker, and sneakily effective offensive producer.

For an $8 million AAV through 2026, that’s a hefty gamble, enough to warrant the first Daily Faceoff Trade Grade of the regular season.

New York Rangers

Receive:

D Urho Vaakanainen, 25 – $1.1 cap hit through 2025
Conditional 2025 4th Rd Pick

Trouba’s $8-million salary and on-ice struggles continued to make him a lightning rod, and a breakup should represent a fresh start for the player and one less distraction for his struggling previous club. What are the Blueshirts getting back, though?

First and foremost, cap relief. The Rangers have already had one record-setting offer rebuffed by superstar goaltender Igor Shesterkin, and even if his recent struggles (3.46 GAA, .899 SV% since Nov. 1) make him slightly reconsider his market value, the team is still on the hook for at least an $11 million AAV.

Add pending RFAs Will Cuylle and K’Andre Miller, and every dollar counts. The Rangers had given up on Trouba, so convincing Anaheim to eat the entirety of his remaining contract is a big win.

That’s about the end of the return as far as New York fans should be concerned, though a mid-round pick is a nice bonus. Vaakanainen is a name insofar as being a former first-rounder, but only as one of the Boston Bruins’ frequent draft whiffs.

The puck-mover, who turns 26 next month, lost his place in the lowly Ducks’ lineup this season. He won’t likely get a look with Miller, Ryan Lindgren, and Zac Jones blocking his path to playing time on the left side of the blueline.

The questions Drury still has to answer on coach Peter Laviolette’s imbalanced blueline preclude a perfect grade. Braden Schneider and Miller are not gelling on the second pair, and 22-year-old Victor Mancini is still very green despite a promising start to his pro career.

Grade: A-

Anaheim Ducks

Receive:

D Jacob Trouba, 30 – $8 million cap hit through 2026

We can’t talk about the Ducks’ side of this deal without mentioning their newest captain, Radko Gudas. 

Like Trouba, Gudas is a nasty, physical, no-holds-barred defenseman. Though his play at even strength has left a lot to be desired this season (38.1% of expected goals), Gudas has taken tough minutes on the ice and mentored Anaheim’s talented youth brigade off of it.

In Trouba, they see the best attributes of Gudas, only younger, more proven in high-leverage minutes, and with some semblance of offense (four 30-point seasons). 

Knowing he’s finally playing on a team that wanted him should do a world of good for Trouba’s confidence, and swapping the constant scrutiny of New York for a comparatively lax hockey market in Southern California won’t hurt, either.

The question now is who he’ll play across from, a problem Peter Laviolette never quite solved this season.  

Though he found some early-season success beside fellow righty Braden Schneider, Trouba struggled to suppress chances in more conventional left-right connections with Ryan Lindgren and especially K’Andre Miller (out-chanced 31-69 at 5-on-5).

Perhaps Olen Zellweger, who oozes confidence on the puck but stands just 5’9, could mitigate some of Trouba’s turnover issues while benefiting from his physicality; a similar dynamic worked for Trouba and Erik Gustafsson during last year’s postseason.

There’s a risk that, independent of the constant trade speculation and media barbs that clouded his mind over the past six months, Trouba really is cooked. For a team as far away from the postseason as Anaheim, that’s a risk worth taking given what he can do at his best.

For all the money he’s saving the Rangers, Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek probably could have twisted Drury’s arm to sweeten the pot. Nonetheless, Verbeek and the Ducks’ ownership deserve some credit for committing resources to accelerate their rebuild. 

Grade: C+

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