The trade
Anaheim Ducks get: D Jacob Trouba
New York Rangers get: D Urho Vaakanainen, conditional 2025 fourth-round draft pick
James Mirtle: That sound you just heard was the general manager of playoff-bound Eastern Conference teams throwing something in disgust over the struggling Rangers getting out of an $8 million salary-cap mess.
I’ve seen some of the early reaction going after the Ducks for letting Rangers GM Chris Drury off the hook here, but I actually think this can be a trade that is a win for both teams.
Even with Trouba without salary retention on their books, the Ducks have a ridiculous $21 million in cap room right now, and they’re not making the playoffs. If they can retain 50 percent of Trouba’s deal and trade him, either at this deadline or next season, for something that’s worth more than a fourth-round pick, they just bought an upgraded futures asset with cap space they weren’t using anyway.
And Urho Vaakanainen turns 26 years old in a few weeks, has been passed by multiple young defensemen in Anaheim and was on the verge of ending up on waivers anyway.
To me, these are the kind of bold moves rebuilding teams need to make more of rather than sitting on a pile of money all season.
Even though Trouba’s value has cratered in recent years, I suspect at least one playoff-bound team will be willing to make a trade like that for him at $4 million on the cap and $3 million in cash, even with one more year on his contract.
In the meantime, Trouba can teach Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov how to obliterate people in the few months he’s in Disneyland.
As for the Rangers, this a no-brainer. They badly needed a shakeup, and everyone in that dressing room knew Trouba was on the outs. He’s nowhere close to an $8 million player right now – in fact, some teams view him as third-pair material – and Drury is armed with a huge amount of space to make another franchise-altering deal in a pivotal year for his team.
Using the waivers threat to push through the deal is going to be controversial, but players and their agents know that if you don’t have a no-movement clause, this is on the table, especially in big markets. There’s a reason his NMC ended last season; that was what they negotiated when his contract was signed in 2019.
So points for being cutthroat and more points for getting another mid-round pick that can be used for a load up at the deadline.
Cap space certainly won’t be an issue for New York anymore.
Rangers grade: A-minus
Ducks grade: B-minus
Shayna Goldman: The Rangers wanting to move on from Trouba wasn’t exactly breaking news after the team tried to trade him this summer. But despite getting another chance in New York this season, there were no improvements in his play. His rush defense has been abysmal this season, with opponents generating a lot of scoring chances in transition in his minutes. He has made a lot of mistakes with the puck on his stick under pressure, and he’s struggled to recover in those plays to make up for it. His reaction time and anticipation get exposed against top competition, which the Rangers have often tasked him with. He often takes himself out of position to make a hit, which has also led to costly chances and goals against. Trouba proved that he was not a fit in Peter Laviolette’s system, and the coaches didn’t make enough tactical adjustments to maximize his game.
All of that should have tanked Trouba’s value, or at least cost the Rangers more in order to move on from him. The fact that New York got out of another bad contract with zero salary retention is astounding. Yes, Drury is ruthless — waiving Barclay Goodrow proved that, and the Trouba trade confirmed it. But Trouba no longer had a full no-movement clause to protect him, and at the end of the day, this is a business that can be cold and calculating. Could this ordeal give free agents pause about signing in New York? Maybe. But it hasn’t stopped Vegas from attracting free agents. If anything, it should push players to fight for a full NMC if they want full control.
In return, the Rangers get a few things. First and foremost is a ton of cap space, since the Ducks were willing to take on Trouba’s full $8 million cap hit. Second, removing Trouba from the equation stops the coaches from playing him in minutes that are above his depth. And third, the Rangers get a depth defenseman in return.
Vaakanainen isn’t a direct Trouba replacement — the team probably must get back on the trade market to find that. But he has developed into a pretty solid shutdown defenseman in Anaheim and he played well alongside Radko Gudas last season. Maybe Vaakanainen will make his way into the top-six rotation or serve as a No. 7, because they could use the help right now. Or maybe he will go to AHL Hartford, which would clear his entire $1.1 million cap hit.
In Trouba, the Ducks gain a defensemen who can eat a lot of challenging minutes. Will the results be good in those minutes? Probably not — he could be even more exposed in Anaheim, considering some of their defensive struggles. But the results don’t exactly matter for a team in the midst of a rebuilding process if his role helps free up some of their up-and-coming players. Pavel Mintuykov currently faces the toughest offensive competition on the team, so maybe Trouba can help relieve him of some of that workload. By the time the Ducks are competitive again, Trouba’s $8 million will be off the books.
But Anaheim should have leveraged its cap space better in this situation — whether management upped the price of absorbing the full $8 million or sent a bad contract back in return. Just because the Ducks can take on Trouba’s cap hit doesn’t mean they should help the Rangers out of a bad situation.
Rangers grade: A-minus
Ducks grade: C-minus
(Photo of Jacob Trouba: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
