The New York Rangers are in the full swing of the preseason, and the roster is starting to take more and more shape with each passing game. After a summer full of uncertainty, rumor, and a bit of chaos, defenseman Jacob Trouba has been on the bight lights of Broadway since last season's end.
The captain was nearly traded away, in quite a few different rumored trades. But, he is still apart of the Rangers for 2024-25, and he is now trying to find a way to keep this hockey club winning. Additionally, with all of the social media mess that happened a few months ago, he now seemingly has to win back the hearts of Rangers fans as well.
Oh Captain, My Captain
The New York Rangers were without a captain from 2017-18 to 2021-22 when they transitioned from Ryan McDonough to Trouba. During that phase, they went through a full rebuild, stripping down the team to the barest of bones. Safe to say, it has worked out since Trouba was named the 28th captain in franchise history.
The front office believes that Trouba was — and still is — the right choice for that responsibility. This offseason was an eye-opener for fans as the summer was not kind to the 30-year-old defenseman. The Trouba family was in the spotlight as numerous leaks and speculations swirled of a trade away from the Rangers.
That did not happen. Trouba is ready for another season as the captain of the Blueshirts. Since he has been a Blueshirt, he has been loved by many as a rough and tough d-man who can be a presence on all 200 feet of the ice. Let us not forget that, before being "the guy", he was a fan-favorite that was regarded as the best blue-liner on this team.
Comeback Season Loading
The best way to win back a fanbase that is skeptical of you is to have the best year of your career and bounce back higher than you ever had before. in 2023-24, he had several career lows that seriously hurt his standing with fans. But, let's also not forget that he did break his ankle in mid-March, and continued to play throughout the regular season and the playoff run as well.
Trouba scored three goals last season and added 19 assists for 22 points. Each of those was the lowest of his 11-year career, outside of the Covid-19 lockout in 2020-21. The lack of point production, and serious drop-off in Corsi-for-percentage, which measures the time your team can retain the puck throughout the game while Trouba was on the ice, were detrimental to deeming last season as a disappointment. For context, his CF% in 2023-24 was a distinguishable 50.1, which is near the highest throughout his career. But, then that number plummeted to an abysmal 47.2, which was the worst for all Rangers defensemen to play more than 69 games.
All eyes are going to be on No. 8 next season, and whether or not he can bounce back. If the Rangers want to continue this successful ride over the past few seasons, and if this is the last chance for this core group, Trouba has to be at his very best in 2024-25.
Wants to be a New York Ranger
This should speak volumes to Rangers fans. Even after everything that has happened this summer, he wants to remain here in New York. Trouba has made it a point that there is nowhere else he wants to be than to be a New York Ranger.
As expected, Trouba was very matter of fact about knowing he could be traded from #NYR this summer.
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) September 19, 2024
Was it important for him to stay here?
“I want to stay here. I want to be here. I like living here. I love New York. My family loves it here, as everybody is now aware.”
No matter what seems to be thrown his way, on the ice and off, he has handled it to the best of his ability and moved on. That captures the essence of what a captain should be for a hockey team.