The New York Rangers are off to a strong start this season, currently ranked first in the Metro Division and currently tied with the Vancouver Canucks with the third most points in the league as a team (23 points).
Many players have stood out for the Rangers, but one of those players who has stepped up to the plate is Vincent Trocheck. Despite his strong season, Trocheck carries with him the burden of a contract that doesn’t expire until 2029. Could the Blueshirts look to capitalize on his performance and offload his contract this season via trade?
The Rangers need Vincent Trocheck amidst injury to Filip Chytil
The main reason why Trocheck got on the second line for the Blueshirts is the injury to Filip Chytil. Chytil suffered an upper-body (wrist/hand) injury against the Carolina Hurricanes, and that injury was severe to the point where Chytil was placed on injured reserve.
Chytil should be back this season, but he has missed significant time. The Rangers need Trocheck to hold down the role while Chytil gets back to being 100% healthy.
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This is the best chance the Rangers will ever have to get out of Trocheck’s contract
When looking at all of the current contracts that the Rangers currently have, Trochek’s is one of the worst. As of now, Trocheck is on a seven-year contract worth $39,375,000. The cap hit of this deal is $5.625 million per year, which for the time being, is a fine contract. However, the length of the deal terrifies many.
With Trocheck currently 30 and this contract having five years left on his deal, he could regress a lot during that time. With how strong of a season he has had, the Blueshirts could heavily market him to other teams just to get out of his contract.
Trading him would help with the cap trouble the team has now and get out of a contract that could be worse in a few years. This could be their best shot at moving that contract.
Would Trocheck be willing to make a move?
Trocheck has a no-movement clause on his contract and that then transitions into a Modified No-Trade Clause. That clause starts in the 2025-26 season where there are 10 teams that the team can’t trade him to. In 2026-27, that list shortens to 10 teams, and in both the 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons that list shortens to six teams.
So the Rangers will be limited in options to trade him. When talking about the current season and Trocheck’s contract, they can’t trade him. So the Rangers are out of luck trading him this season and the next. Hopefully, he keeps playing this well throughout the duration of his contract and there won’t be a need to trade Trocheck in the future.
