When the NHL announced that they were moving the Arizona Coyotes to Utah, local fans were very excited. The NHL was headed to Utah, where the fans are as passionate as any American fan base.
If Utah wants to bring even more excitement to its fan base, then GM Bill Armstrong should work hard to acquire New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba.
His style of play in a new NHL market like Utah would be electric. He plays a hard-hitting style of play, like a modern-day Scott Stevens.
If Utah can make a play on Trouba and add him to their defensive core, they could quickly have one of the best blue lines in the NHL.
What could a trade package look like, though?
Utah has $15 million in projected cap space and could realistically take on the entity of Trouba's $8 million cap hit for the next two seasons. However, if they offer an additional pick, they may get the Rangers to retain somewhere around $1.5–$2 million.
Depending on the asking price to acquire Trouba, Utah may be able to do a draft pick-loaded trade package. Since they have 17 draft picks in the next two seasons, it would be worth their while to offer a few to acquire another big-named blue liner.
Utah: Jacob Trouba ($1.5 million)
Rangers: Victor Söderström, 2025 3rd Round Pick (NYR), 2026 2nd Round Pick (NYR), & 2027 5th Round Pick (TBL)
It may seem like Utah is giving up a fair bit for Trouba, especially since the reports seem like the Rangers want him gone. He's still a valuable player who can contribute to any of the 32 NHL teams. This means teams are going to need to pay a price to acquire his services.
The trade package listed above allows Armstrong to bring in another good NHL defender at the cost of a few draft picks. That would be a nice piece of business for Utah to get done.