Chris Drury and the Rangers probably thought they were sending defenseman and former captain Jacob Trouba to the equivalent of NHL Siberia when they shipped him off to the Anaheim Ducks following months of speculation, drama, and even what he described as threats.
But the Ducks, who were one of the bottom teams in the Western Conference last season, sit in third place in the Pacific Division heading toward the Olympic break with Trouba and another former Ranger, Chris Kreider, contributing. According to the veteran blue liner, things are going much better in sunny California than they were during his final months on Broadway.
“I think I’m playing a little looser. I’ll be honest with you, I’m having a little bit more fun than I’ve had the last couple of years, so I think that’s been refreshing for me,” Trouba told the NHL on TNT following the Ducks’ 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night. “Coming to the rink with a smile on my face and being excited to show up to practice… It’s fun to be around this group.”
All the while, the Rangers are the worst team in the Eastern Conference, with Drury’s slow, not-so-methodical purge of some veterans, which has included the jettisoning of Kreider, K’Andre Miller, and soon, Artemi Panarin.
It all began with Trouba, who sat through months of public trade speculation during the summer of 2024 while the Rangers tried to get his contract off their books. Despite extensive efforts, Trouba’s full no-movement clause, which eventually became a modified 15-team no-trade clause, hampered any progress.
Part of the holdout was predicated on his desire to stay in New York for his wife, who was completing a three-year medical residency at a local hospital.
“I was put in a situation this summer to make a decision between my career and my family,” he said at the time. “I chose my family. I’d choose my family 100 times over again. I don’t feel bad about it…
“I don’t like that everything unfolded so publicly. I guess that’s part of New York.”
But in early December 2024, the Rangers approached Trouba and asked him to accept a trade to the Ducks, who finished seventh out of eight teams in the Pacific Division the year prior and were third from bottom at that time. If he did not accept it, he would be scratched.
After calling their bluff, the Rangers ordered him to accept the trade or be put on waivers, which would nullify his no-trade clause and see him lose any control over where his next home would be.
“It was a threat,” Trouba said shortly after the trade.
It might have also been one of the better things to happen to him because, now, he is in the midst of a playoff race with a young, exciting roster. The Rangers, meanwhile, are going backward in what is shaping up to be their worst season in a couple of decades, while mired in a rotten culture built on the back of Drury.
