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Armchair GM, New York Rangers roster review: Part 4 – defense

By Jason Katinas

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 29: New York Rangers center Filip Chytil (72) celebrates goal as New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) congratulates him during the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers NHL game on October 29, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 29: New York Rangers center Filip Chytil (72) celebrates goal as New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) congratulates him during the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers NHL game on October 29, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Jacob Trouba #8 of the New York Rangers(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Jacob Trouba #8 of the New York Rangers(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

#8  Jacob Trouba

Jacob Trouba came to the New York Rangers with high hopes and even higher expectations. Traded from the Winnipeg Jets for Neil Pionk and the Jets own first round pick (#20, previously acquired by the Rangers in the Kevin Hayes trade), Trouba was coming off a breakout year. With a Dustin Byfuglien injury that saw him miss nearly half the season, Trouba saw his minutes, responsibilities and powerplay (PP) time all increase. The 24 year old responded with a career high 50 points (8 goals, 42 assists) with 18 points coming with the man advantage.

He additionally posted team highs in blocks (171), time on ice (1876 minutes), and shots on goal (162) and takeaways (48) by a defenseman. Following that season’s performance and the subsequent trade to New York, Trouba and the Rangers agreed to a seven year contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $8 million. The result? A 27 point season that fell short of expectations for such a big payday.  While Trouba’s offensive output was a disappointment, he contributed in other ways.

During the 2019-20 season, Trouba led the Rangers in hits (173), blocks (128), time on ice, both actual and average (1580 / 22:34 minutes) and shots by a defenseman (206). However, with the offensive prowess of Tony DeAngelo, Trouba saw both his minutes and production on the PP diminish, receiving half of the time DeAngelo did on the man advantage. As a result, Trouba only scored 8 points on the man advantage(four goals, four assists).

At even strength, Trouba also scored less than expected (three goals, 14 assists), but that did not as much of a negative impact as the loss of PP production had on his season. That though is only a reflection of Trouba’s offensive struggles with the Rangers. On the defensive side of the puck, he was a work horse. David Quinn relied on him heavily with nearly 55 percent of his zone starts coming in the defensive end and two and a half minutes of time on the penalty kill on average per game.

Trouba was relied upon, especially early in the season, to play the heavy minutes of shutdown defense against the opposition’s most dangerous players. He was also forced to do this without a steady partner as Brady Skjei struggled early, the experiment of partnering him with Libor Hajek did not work and Marc Staal is no longer a top pair defenseman. His pairing with Brendan Smith towards the end of the season appeared functional, but as with Staal, is Smith capable of handling the heavy minutes?

In all, Trouba performed well, just not to the level that had been expected of him, especially on the offensive side of the puck.  He was also hampered by the lack of a steady, stay-at-home defensive partner.  However, with the offensive breakthroughs by DeAngelo and Adam Fox, the lack of offense from Trouba is not nearly as big an issue if he continues to perform as the team’s top shutdown defenseman.   The question is, at $8 million a year, will that be enough?

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