The New York Rangers are retooling, and at this year’s deadline, they owned the most sought-after player in Vincent Trocheck. They elected not to trade him, but will they come to regret that decision?
On Jan. 16, 2026, New York Rangers GM Chris Drury penned a message to the fans outlining that the team would be entering a retool, rather than a rebuild.
It was later reported and confirmed that the Rangers were actively shopping winger Artemi Panarin, as they would not re-sign him when his contract expired. In the end, they sent him to the Los Angeles Kings for prospect Liam Greentree, a conditional third-round pick, and a conditional fourth-round pick.
Following the Panarin trade and leading up to the deadline, Drury was expected to be active, most notably looking to deal away 32-year-old Olympic gold-winning center Vincent Trocheck. Plenty of teams were interested in acquiring Trocheck, with reports indicating that the Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings, Carolina Hurricanes, and Boston Bruins were open to his services.
Ultimately, the Rangers placed a high price tag on Trocheck and were firm about sticking to it, failing to budge, and he remains with the organization. The Rangers weren’t the only team that placed a high price tag on a player and refused to waiver. The Philadelphia Flyers did so with Rasmus Ristolainen, the Toronto Maple Leafs with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and the Calgary Flames with Blake Coleman.
Like Trocheck, those players have additional seasons remaining on their contracts, which gives the power to the sellers. Trocheck is in the fourth year of a seven-year contract that pays him $5.625 million annually. While it is wise for Drury not to sell Trocheck for the sake of selling, dealing away an aging center while the team is actively attempting to get younger would have accelerated the process.
Vincent Trocheck has scored 12 goals and 39 points in 46 games this season. (Danny Wild-Imagn Images)“Vincent Trocheck is a great player,” Drury said. “He’s been a great Ranger for us and a leader on and off the ice. Broadly speaking, to any player in the organization as it pertains to a retool, and this trade deadline and moving forward is we’re going to make deals that make sense.
“The deals we made today and leading up to this deadline, to us made sense. Certainly weren’t going to make a trade on any player just to say we made a trade. We will always continue to try and make the team better. It certainly doesn’t stop today at the 3:00 deadline.”
It’s entirely possible that no offer presented to the Rangers was even worth their time, but the Rangers failed to make any other moves to help. Braden Schneider wasn’t dealt, Jonathan Quick remains as the backup netminder, and Alexis Lafreniere was denied his opportunity for a fresh start elsewhere. Besides Panarin, the Rangers dealt Sam Carrick, Derrick Pouliot, and Brennan Othmann.
In the end, the Rangers exited what was supposed to be a critical step in the early stages of the retool with one prospect, two third-round picks, one fourth-round pick, a sixth-round pick, an AHL player swap, and a prospect swap.
Although it’s a step in the right direction, it feels as if it’s baby steps. Time will tell if the Rangers will come to regret their decision to hold onto Trocheck while he is at the peak of his value.
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