3/6/26 | 8:55AM: Elliotte Friedman tweets that the Rangers have told teams that they won’t trade Trocheck just to trade him and that they will keep him if they don’t get what they want.
8:25AM: Pierre LeBrun said on TSN last night, “the Rangers asking price remains high but I think they feel that this is their window to move him so they are trying to make that happen. A couple of teams to keep an eye on, one of them is the Boston Bruins are trying to get in there, Carolina Hurricanes, the Wild appear out on him as we speak but what is true in this moment may not be true tomorrow but Minnesota Wild believe they are a long-shot now that that the asking price is difficult for them. We’ll see, sometimes there is a poker game in all that and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Wild got back into it. He is 33-years old and the risk for the Rangers is that if they don’t change their asking price and he remains a Ranger through the deadline, which may happen because he has term left on his deal, then he’s 34 next year, this feels like the moment.”
3/5/26: 10:29PM: Chris Johnston said on TSN, “there are considerable other teams around this. I look at the Carolina Hurricanes, the Detroit Red Wings have certainly checked in on Trocheck and even the Boston Bruins are among the teams that are at least hanging around here. It’s not yet clear who is going to step up and pay the price. I tried to get the exact price and all I got back was “a lot more than the Leafs got for Nic Roy,’ that was a first and a fifth round pick. He could be the biggest trade made on deadline day.
7:37PM: On ESPN, Emily Kaplan said “there are plenty of teams interested. What I was told is yesterday or some time in the last 24-hours, Chris Drury said to Bill Guerin ‘hey, that is not a good enough offer.’ Other teams are circling, Detroit is one, Carolina is the other, but Drury has privately told his peers that he has this guy under contract and that he doesn’t have to make a move now.”
Elliotte Friedman also mentions Carolina and Detroit with Trocheck.
6:30PM: Trocheck, and Sam Carrick, are not playing tonight for roster management.
5:04PM: Emily Kaplan says that the Rangers want to move Trocheck but they haven’t found the offers they are looking for.
11:51AM: Chris Johnston said on TSN of Trocheck, “the ask right now is still deemed too rich for some of the contenders and what I can tell you is the Minnesota Wild, for the time being at least, have stepped back in these talks and that is not to say that they can’t get going again between now and Friday but it is hanging out there as a possibility that the Rangers may not be able to get the ask needed to move on from Trocheck. Right now it seems like New York is having a tough time quite getting the price they are looking for and there are multiple centers out there.”
11:28AM: The Athletic says that the Rangers price for Trocheck may be too much for Minnesota and that their chances of landing him are “fading.”
Adam Rotter: 3/5/26 11:28AM: At this point it’s all posturing and smoke screens and it seems entirely possible that this goes down to the wire if the Rangers hold firm on their price, which they should do. Minnesota is sending out signals that the cost may be too high and the Rangers may play Trocheck tonight to show teams that they are committed to keeping him if their price isn’t met. Bill Guerin is reported to be a GM who starts with his final offer and doesn’t come off of it. It’s what he did to get Quinn Hughes and it’s why it’s been reported for a while that, at least from their side, there has been a framework of a deal for Trocheck. Will he alter his strategy to bring in someone to help bolster their chances against Colorado or Dallas? It seems like it would go against his character, but depending on what else Colorado or Dallas do before the deadline, maybe that changes. In the event that Trocheck doesn’t move, there has always been talk that he may have a more robust market when teams either have more cap room or might be more desperate following an early playoff loss. It’s a risk to hold onto him and risk injury, but Drury should not lower his asking price.
3/4/26: Emily Kaplan believes that the Minnesota offer for Trocheck includes center Charlie Stramel, 21st overall in 2023, a 2027 first round pick and another prospect or player.
3/2/26: Trocheck confirmed that he has Western Conference teams on his no-trade list and that if he is going to be traded he would prefer to go to a contender. (The Athletic)
Mike Sullivan said that as of now the Rangers are not planning to hold Trocheck out for roster management purposes. (Baugh)
3/1/26 | During Saturday’s game against the Penguins, Emily Kaplan was asked if the Rangers were going to move Vincent Trocheck and said “I do believe there is a deal to be had with Minnesota, the framework is there. Plenty of other teams are circling and we’ll see what the best package Chris Drury can get.”
On Sunday, Elliotte Friedman was on TNT and was asked about Trocheck and said “he prefers the East” and noted that teams like LA and Utah are not likely but that Minnesota, Carolina and Detroit are teams interested in him.
He said that the Rangers “ask is high and should be high.”
Later on, when asked about the Wild, Friedman said “I think the Rangers know exactly what Minnesota is willing to do for Trocheck” and they are looking around to see if they can find a deal that beats it. Most people believe that Minnesota has a standing offer for him and we’ll see what the Rangers decide to do.”
Adam Rotter (3/1/26): Unlike the Artemi Panarin situation where the Rangers were told there was only one team to deal with, Chris Drury should be able to pit these teams against each other to a certain degree for Trocheck. Minnesota has long been linked to Trocheck and they are all in after trading for Quinn Hughes and because they will need to get through at least one of Colorado and Dallas, if not both, to even get to the Western Conference Finals. The biggest issue, from the Rangers point of view, with Minnesota is that they traded many of their top assets to get Quinn Hughes. Minnesota still has prospects that would seemingly fit with the Rangers idea of getting ready to contribute players, along with a first round pick next year, it’s just a question of whether those ready to contribute players are the best ones that Drury can get.
Detroit seems like they are in good shape to end their playoff drought and they may match up best with the Rangers in terms of the quality and quantity of young players/prospects that they have. They have been slowly building up to this point where they have accumulated enough prospects/young players that they can start trading some for more established players.
Carolina would be annoying because the Rangers would still see Trocheck pretty frequently and the Rangers already own one of their first round picks from the K’Andre Miller deal last summer. That deal also netted them Scott Morrow who was considered one of Carolina’s top prospects but has struggled both on the ice and to gain Mike Sullivan’s trust so far. While Trocheck doesn’t have ultimate stay, the Hurricanes qualify as a contender and he may welcome a return to a familiar place.