Jacob Trouba is finally leaving New York after months of public trade rumors and private pressure from the Rangers, who were determined to move on from their captain and his large contract.
Trouba wasn’t happy with how he was pushed out, but he is glad to join the Anaheim Ducks.
“It’s a rite of passage to get fired from MSG,” Trouba said Friday after the Ducks traded defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2025 for the veteran defenseman.
The trade ends Trouba’s five-year run with the Rangers. He had been involved in trade rumors for months, and he admitted that the uncertainty affected his play this fall.
“Don’t like that it was made public necessarily, but I guess that’s New York and how it happens,” Trouba said. “Made it kind of hard to play, but I’m excited to move forward. In my opinion, things could have been handled better. Not blaming anybody or anything, but it was just kind of an unfortunate end to my time in New York.”
Rangers general manager Chris Drury has made no secret of his desire to revamp the roster since the summer, and Trouba is in the sixth year of a seven-year, $56 million contract. His expensive deal was a barrier to the changes New York wanted to make, and Trouba also had a strong no-trade clause.
In a conference call set up by the Ducks to introduce their new defenseman, Trouba confirmed the long-rumored details of his time in New York, including his decision to block a trade — reportedly to Detroit — last summer. He did this to stay with his wife, Kelly, who is completing her three-year medical residency at a hospital in New York.
“I’ll be honest, I was put in a position this summer to make a decision between my career and my family, and I chose my family,” Trouba said. “I would choose my family 100 times over again.”
Trouba also confirmed that the Rangers told him this week to accept a trade or risk being scratched. He also mentioned that he was informed he would eventually be placed on waivers, which would have taken away his ability to choose where he went.
“Yesterday morning was, ‘Accept this trade or we’re scratching you,’” Trouba said. “Got to the place where I felt comfortable with Anaheim, and that was the place I wanted to go.”
Trouba said his wife is also excited about moving to Southern California, calling it “a great opportunity for her long-term as well.” Trouba will join the last-place Ducks in Montreal on Monday for the start of a four-game trip.
“It’s a team that’s kind of right on the cusp of taking the next step and being really great, I think,” he added. “I can come in there and make an impact in a positive way. It’s just a city I was very excited about coming into.”
Trouba joined the Rangers in a trade with Winnipeg in 2019 and became New York’s captain before the 2022-23 season.
Trouba has been considered one of the NHL’s best checking defensemen when at his best. He has six assists in 23 games this season but has struggled to produce offensively like he did in his best years, including a career-high 50 points with the Jets in 2018-19.
“I can tell you — and I said this to him — I thought while he was here and during our time here he was a really good player and a really good teammate. A good person,” said New York coach Peter Laviolette after Friday night’s 4-2 win over Pittsburgh. “I thought he worked hard and tried to set a good example for the New York Rangers.”
The Ducks can handle the remaining 1 1/2 years of Trouba’s contract because they have one of the NHL’s lowest payrolls and plenty of salary cap space after general manager Pat Verbeek couldn’t sign any top free agents last summer.
Trouba will immediately become an important player on the Ducks’ defense, who are currently in last place in the Pacific Division. He will also play alongside Anaheim forwards Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano, who were his teammates with the Rangers during their 2022 Eastern Conference finals run.
“I think he’s got some underrated offensive skills that probably hasn’t shown in the last year or so,” Verbeek said. “It gives our team a lot more rigid, physical play to the rest of our group, and for me, I’m trying to make this team better.
That is part of how I want us to play. I want us to be really tough to play against, and he certainly adds that element to our group.”
The Ducks’ defense includes captain Radko Gudas, veteran Cam Fowler, free agent signing Brian Dumoulin, and promising young players Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov, and Jackson LaCombe.
The rebuilding Ducks are still not a strong team on offense or defense after six seasons without making the playoffs, but they have shown improvement defensively this year, allowing 2.96 goals per game after giving up 3.57 last season.
Vaakanainen, who hasn’t played since November 13 due to an upper-body injury, was included in the trade. He played 68 games and scored one goal for the Ducks last season but has struggled with injuries throughout his career with Boston and Anaheim.
