The renaissance of New York Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck

This has been a very strong start to the New York Rangers season, with much to feel good about. One such player who exemplifies this is Vincent Trocheck. Trocheck has become a staple of this Rangers roster, and for someone who started the season as the third-line center, he has had quite the time. Celebrating his 30th birthday back in July, Trocheck has become one of the better members of the New York Rangers, putting some of the criticism of his contract to rest.

Through 30 games this season, Trocheck has eight goals and 20 assists for 28 points. Considering he spent the first ten games of the season on the third line before Filip Chytil was hurt, Trocheck has really staked a claim to that second-line center spot, probably claiming it permanently when Chytil does come back from his upper-body issue. Trocheck's production between Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere has become the beating heart of this roster.

Trocheck's following up on a season where he scored 22 goals and assisted on another 42 for 64 points in 82 games. Somehow, everyone kind of decided coming into the year that he should be the third-line center. He's shown recently that he could even be on the top line in a situation where Mika Zibanejad is hurt if it comes to that, and we are all hoping it won't.

With Trocheck reverting back to the player he was before his knee injuries as a member of the Florida Panthers, the Rangers have been able to ride to the top of the Metropolitan Division standings and still sit among the elite members of the league with an injury list that stretches to Timbuktu. We've all raved over how good Artemi Panarin has been this season, but to some, the contributions of the Pittsburgh native are still going unappreciated.