8:33 AM: Larry Brooks has confirmed that Trouba will be the next Captain.
Brooks writes that Trouba was looked at last year as the “de facto” Captain of the team and organized many of the team’s off-ice activities. (NY Post)
6:49 AM: Former Rangers goalie Kevin Weekes tweets that he is told that Jacob Trouba will be named the next Captain of the Rangers “within 24 hours.”
Trouba was reportedly “about” to be named Captain prior to last season before someone “above” Gerard Gallant, and possibly Chris Drury, decided to go with the six alternate Captains.
The Rangers have been without a Captain since Ryan McDonagh was traded at the 2018 Trade Deadline to Tampa Bay.
Trouba, 28, has four-years left on his deal at $8 million per season.
Ryan Strome said of Trouba recently, “I can’t say enough about him as a player and a person, I think he did an unreal job with the leadership group this year, a lot of things behind the scenes that aren’t easy to do, especially in NY You’ve got family’s living in Connecticut, guys living in the City, it’s not easy to put that stuff together and he did a great job. Not mention the great hits and great plays, he was one of our most steady players all year.” (Missin Curfew)
Adam Rotter: This isn’t all that surprising, though the timing of announcing it in early August instead of waiting a month and announcing it on the first day of Training Camp is a little strange. Maybe they wanted to get all of this out of the way so that it’s old news when Training Camp starts and they can just focus on the task at hand.
As much as this is about Trouba, this decision also says things about some of the other Rangers. It’s obvious that two GMs, two Presidents and two coaches all believe that being named Captain would hurt/hinder Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider’s game. That isn’t necessarily a knock on the two of them and could be considered a smart move as you wouldn’t want to mess with anything about how the two of them have played the last few years. I thought for sure that the only thing stopping Zibanejad from being Captain was his contract situation, but once he signed for eight-years and then wasn’t named Captain it became clear that the organization felt he would perform best by keeping the “A” on the front of his jersey. Both Zibanejad and Kreider are still enormous parts of the leadership group and hold the special distinction of being the last bridge to the old Rangers, but they will be the second and third players that, if/when they win, will be handed the Stanley Cup.
There are some who believe, and rightly so to a degree, that the Captaincy put a burden on Ryan McDonagh and that he tried to do too much on the ice because of it. McDonagh was still an effective and good player, but, and injuries played a part in it, he was never really that player again after getting the “C.” I think that a lot of that played into the idea of not handing Adam Fox, as their best non-Igor Shesterkin player, the “C.” It’s entirely possible, if not likely, that Fox eventually succeeds Trouba as Captain, but when/if he does he will be a much more experienced player. It’s possible that the “C” would have no impact on Fox and that he’d still be his Norris/All-Star self, but there is no reason to chance it. Like with Kreider and Zibanejad, Fox is playing at a very high level and while they all have arguments for deserving the “C,” keeping the status quo with them likely allows them to just keep focusing on getting better, being consistent.
I did wonder if the Rangers would split the Captaincy, like Drury had in Buffalo with Daniel Briere, but they are going the traditional route and giving the “C” to the person best equipped to handle it right now. With Trouba grabbing the “C” and Ryan Strome departing, the Rangers can still have a home/road split of “A’s” with Kreider and Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin/Barclay Goodrow. Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren probably deserve “A’s,” too, so maybe the Rangers will figure out some kind of rotation, but the big question about front of the jersey letters has been answered.