As the Rangers search for consistency Vincent Trocheck keeps leading the way

When it was announced on Monday morning that Vincent Trocheck wasn't participating in practice, you could feel the tension and large sigh on social media from fans of the New York Rangers. The team is already without team captain J.T. Miller, and without Trocheck practicing, Juuso Parssinen served as a place holder on the second line. The brief scare was all for naught, as Trocheck suited up for the game, something he asserted he was always going to do.

Trocheck's importance to the team cannot be understated

Monday's 3-2 win by the Rangers marked Trocheck's eighth game of the 2025-26 season. He scored the Blueshirts' first goal of the game, off a feed from Jonny Brodzinski, and it made the game 1-1 in the second period.

The goal was Trocheck's fourth of the season, and he sits seventh on the team in goal scoring despite missing a significant amount of time. He's also got four helpers to his name, and his eight points has him in eighth place. The leaders right now include Adam Fox (21 points in 24 games), Artemi Panarin (20 points in 24 games), Mika Zibanejad (15 points in 24 games), and then Alexis Lafrenière and Will Cuylle tied with 13 points in 24 games.

Heading into the game Trocheck's underlying numbers were also pretty solid. He's a driving force on the Rangers' best line, and he's rocking a 54.37 GF%, a 55.21 CF%, and a 50.09 xGF%. The lack of playing time due to injury has forced Trocheck to play a bit of catch up, and the Rangers certainly appreciate what he's able to provide for them.

Early returns for Trocheck are positive development following down 2024-25 season

One of the bigger questions heading into the season surrounded Trocheck, and there were concerns over which player would be returning to the team this season. Would it be the player who set a career high with 77 points and 52 assists in 2023-24, or more of the 2024-25 Trocheck who saw his point total drop by 18 points year over year. To his credit, Trocheck still scored 26 goals last year, but he's become such an important playmaker for the Blueshirts that it was interesting to see him finish with 33 assists when he'd recorded 52 and 42 respectively in his first two campaigns on Broadway. His goal to assist ratio remains even thus far, and the Rangers will take that kind of production as long as the can.

Even though he wasn't named captain, Trocheck's leadership is evident

There's no good way of quantifying it, because it's been such a small sample, but the Rangers seem to have a lift with Trocheck back. He was looked upon as someone that was expected to be named captain, but that honor ended up going to Miller, Trocheck's longtime buddy. He spoke with the media after the win, and the general message from him is something you'd expect from a leader of the team.

This isn't anything new for Trocheck, and one of the more memorable moments of his tenure with the Rangers was his embrace of Igor Shesterkin after the team was eliminated in the Eastern Conference Final back in 2024.

You can also think back to his double overtime winner against the Carolina Hurricanes during that same playoff run, the reaction after the goal, and just get a sense of how much he means to his teammates and the fan base as a whole.

We don't know how long Miller will be out of the lineup, but with Trocheck playing the way he is, the team is in good hands. He will have another opportunity to contribute and lead for the Rangers on Wednesday, as Trocheck will return to Carolina to face off against the Hurricanes, a team he was part of for three seasons.