Reason #7: Intangibles
There are a few other reasons that Trocheck was the right choice. He had his best seasons under Gerard Gallant in Florida. Trocheck is coming off an excellent playoff with six goals and 10 points in 14 games. By signing Trocheck, the Rangers strengthened themselves while weakening a Metropolitan Division arch-rival. While the Hurricanes appeared to make up for the loss by acquiring Max Pacioretty, their newest import will now miss the next six months recovering from Achilles tendon surgery.
Drury clearly had other options besides going the free agent route. He could have looked for a trade. Sean Monahan was sent from Calgary to Montreal. The Blackhawks traded Kirby Dach to the Canadiens. He could have tried to pry some of the pending UFA’s like J.T. Miller or RFA’s like Pierre Luc-Dubois. Anthony Cirelli, Robert Thomas, and Jared McCann were away from their teams, but by signing Trocheck, he kept the crown jewels of their development system.
Some Blueshirts faithful are upset that the team let Copp escape after 36 games in a Rangers uniform at the cost of first and second-round picks and Morgan Barron. Signing Copp may have made that expense sting a little less.
But no matter that cost, they still rode Copp’s contributions to a second-place Met Division finish and got within a game of making it to the Stanley Cup Final.
No matter how you look at it, the signing of Vincent Trocheck should be a win-win for the Blueshirts. With limited options and a glaring hole at the center, Chris Drury made a decisive move and came up with the best choice. Now, it’s up to Trocheck to live up to the expectations.