3/9/26 | Elliotte Friedman said on The Fan Hockey show on Monday about Trocheck, “I think that where the cap is going, players with term have become more valuable and one guy like Trocheck, we all thought he was going to get dealt, the lack of free agents that are going to be out there and the cap going up is going to be driving up some of these contracts, I think there is a chance that a guy like Trocheck becomes more valuable, not less.”
He added, “I spoke to another team that was in on Trocheck and they told me that the Rangers were looking for a first rounder, a player off your roster and a legit prospect. It was a lot…I know Drury is getting a lot of heat and we’ll find out over time whether or not he was right to do it this way, but players with term and Trocehck has three years of term, as the cap goes up, players with term, there value is only going to go up.”
Adam Rotter: That price makes sense and the argument about players with term becoming more valuable as players worse than Trocheck sign long-term deals for similar cap hits, shows why Drury held firm on his price. There is no guarantee that Drury gets that price in the summer, but I think it’s more likely, with possibly more teams involved as the cap goes up, than it was last week.
I really think that the roster player is the key to this, the prospect is second and the first round pick is third. If Drury wants this to turn around quickly he needs talented players who are in the NHL or just about to be. Those players aren’t easy to get, but the thought is that Trocheck could potentially put someone over the top as a contender and that may be worth moving a younger, less established but still high upside player. It’s all idealistic and maybe Drury holds Trocheck past July 1 and the offers don’t improve and he then has to decide to settle on a lower price or keep hoping that at some point someone will end up paying what he wants for Trocheck.
3/6/26 | 6:17PM: On NHL Network, Elliotte Friedman said “I do think Minnesota tried…I just heard that the price was very high and with Panarin they were boxed into the corner and they are not with Trocheck because he’s under contract for three more years.”
He added that Boston looked at Trocheck and decided the price was too high.
3:21PM: Bill Guerin was on ESPN and was asked about the center market and Trocheck and said “it’s tough and I thought winning a goal medal with Chris Drury would give me a little bit of a hometown discount but he wasn’t in that mood (smiles). It’s tough, these guys are so valuable and when teams have them they know they have something special and it’s valuable and I think that is why we saw prices set so high. It’s just such a critical position…it’s critical but it’s not the easiest thing to do because when you have those players you don’t want to give them up.”
3:11PM: The Rangers have not traded Vincent Trocheck by today’s 3PM trade deadline.
Trocheck still has three more years left on his contract and his modified no-trade goes from 12 teams to 10 teams on July 1.
Adam Rotter: This was always a possibility but it seemed a little far fetched with how impactful Trocheck could be for a team in the playoffs. It seemed for weeks like someone was going to step up for Trocheck but Chris Drury reportedly had a very high price for Trocheck and held to it. It always seemed like his value was going to be at his highest at this trade deadline and that was why Drury had a high price and held to it. The Rangers kept saying and acting like they would keep Trocheck and that is what they did.
In the short-term Trocheck returns to the lineup and plays the rest of the season. But he’s still going to have a a lot of value at the draft or after July 1. Everything that was appealing about Trocheck today will still be appealing in the summer, just with one fewer run in the playoffs. I seriously doubt that Trocheck will be with the Rangers when next season starts.
One aspect that may work in Drury’s favor is that teams will be more likely to move young players off their roster in the offseason than during the season. A team was unlikely to trade a young player that had a regular spot in their lineup for Trocheck because that fills one spot and opens up another. That might be less of an issue in the summer when a team could move out a young player, acquire Trocheck and still have free agency and more cap space to fill other spots. On the other hand, Trocheck won’t be the only available center this summer.
While frustrating in some ways because we’ve been expecting Trocheck to move, not that much changes about the direction of the Rangers other than the fact that they are a better team with Trocheck than without him and may win a few more games than they would if Jonny Brodzinski or some other bottom-six forward was filling Trocheck’s spot. People will be upset that Trocheck wasn’t moved but they are the same people who’d be upset if he traded him for 75 cents on the dollar.