ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jacob Trouba is finally out of New York after months of public trade rumors and private threats from the Rangers, who were determined to get rid of their captain and his massive contract.
Trouba was not pleased with the way he was run out of town, but he says he's quite happy to land with the Anaheim Ducks.
“It’s a rite of passage to get fired from MSG,” Trouba said Friday after the Ducks acquired the veteran defenseman in exchange for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2025.
The trade ends the 30-year-old Trouba’s five-year tenure with the Rangers. He has been a fixture in trade rumors for months, and he acknowledged that the uncertainty affected his play this fall.
“Don’t like that it was made public necessarily, but I guess that’s New York and how it happens," Trouba said. "Made it kind of hard to play, but I’m excited to move forward. In my opinion, things could have been handled better. Not blaming anybody or anything, but it was just kind of an unfortunate end to my time in New York.”
Rangers general manager Chris Drury hasn't tried to hide his desire for a roster reboot since the summer, and Trouba is in the sixth season of a seven-year, $56 million contract. The physical blueliner's hefty deal has been an impediment to the movement New York wanted so desperately, and Trouba also had a robust no-trade clause.
In a conference call set up by the Ducks to welcome their new defenseman, Trouba essentially confirmed the long-rumored details of his New York saga, including his decision to nix a trade — reportedly to Detroit — last summer. He did it to support his wife, Kelly, who is completing her three-year medical residency at a New York hospital.
“I’ll be honest, I was put in a position this summer to make a decision between my career and my family, and I chose my family,” Trouba said. “I would choose my family 100 times over again.”
Trouba also confirmed that the Rangers told him this week to accept a trade or be scratched. He also indicated he was told he eventually would be placed on waivers, removing his ability to control where he landed next.
"Yesterday morning was, ‘Accept this trade or we’re scratching you,’” Trouba said. “Got to the place where I felt comfortable with Anaheim, and that was the place I wanted to go.”
Trouba said his wife is also excited about moving to Southern California, calling it “a great opportunity for her long-term as well.” Trouba will join the last-place Ducks in Montreal on Monday for the opener of a four-game trip.
“It’s a team that’s kind of right on the cusp of taking the next step and being really great, I think,” he added. “I can come in there and make an impact in a positive way. It’s just a city I was very excited about coming into.”
Trouba joined the Rangers in a trade with Winnipeg in 2019, and he became New York's captain before the 2022-23 season.
Trouba has been considered one of the NHL's best checking defensemen at the height of his talents. He has six assists in 23 games this year while struggling to produce offensively at the level of his best seasons, including a career-best 50 points with the Jets in 2018-19.
“I can tell you — and I said this to him — I thought while he was here and during our time here he was a really good player and a really good teammate. A good person," New York coach Peter Laviolette said after Friday night's 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh. “I thought he worked hard and tried to set a good example for the New York Rangers.”
The Ducks can accommodate the final 1 1/2 years of Trouba's deal because they have one of the NHL's lowest payrolls and ample salary cap space after general manager Pat Verbeek failed to land any top free agents last summer.
Trouba will immediately become a key contributor on the blue line for the Ducks, who are in last place in the Pacific Division. He also will play alongside Anaheim forwards Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano, his teammates with the Rangers during the club's run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2022.
“I think he’s got some underrated offensive skills that probably hasn’t shown in the last year or so,” Verbeek said. “Overall it gives our team a lot more rigid, physical play to the rest of our group, and for me, I’m trying to make this team better. That is part of how I want us to play. I want us to be really tough to play against, and he certainly adds that element to our group.”
The Ducks' group of defensemen includes captain Radko Gudas, veteran Cam Fowler, free agent signee Brian Dumoulin and promising youngsters Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov and Jackson LaCombe.
Rebuilding Anaheim still isn't a good team on offense or defense after six consecutive non-playoff seasons, but it has shown some statistical improvement defensively this season, allowing just 2.96 goals per game after giving up 3.57 last season.
Vaakanainen hasn't played since Nov. 13 while dealing with an upper-body injury. The veteran played 68 games and scored one goal for the Ducks last season, but he has been injured frequently during his career with Boston and Anaheim.
___
AP freelancer reporters Allan Kreda and Doug Padilla contributed to this report.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL