When the New York Rangers decided to let Ryan Strome, now a member of the Anaheim Ducks, walk away, fans did not know what to think.
On the one hand, you had a player that played very well for the Rangers. In his three-and-a-half seasons with the franchise, he had point totals of 33, 59, 49, and 54.
On the other hand, you had someone that struggled in the playoffs, was not aggressive enough, missed a lot of scoring chances, and was not good at taking faceoffs. Based on these factors, the team felt it would be safe for them to go in another direction.
That is precisely what the Blueshirts did during the offseason. They signed Vincent Trocheck to a seven-year, $39.375 million contract on July 13, 2022.
Trocheck, 29, was coming off a solid season with the Carolina Hurricanes, the team the Rangers beat in seven games in the second round of last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. He finished the regular season with 51 points on 21 goals and 30 assists and added another 10 points in 14 games in the postseason on six goals and four assists.
So far, things seem to be working out for both him and the New York Rangers. For starters, he is producing on a somewhat consistent level.
As of this writing (Sunday, February 12), Trocheck has 39 points in 53 games on 15 goals and 24 assists. That puts him fourth on the team, and he even has more points than Chris Kreider.
Secondly, Trocheck has been a shooting machine this season. He is third on the team with 155 shots on goal. Last season, Trocheck had 168 shots on goal with the Hurricanes last season, so he is well on his way to surpassing that by a wide margin.
The fact that Trocheck shoots the puck is something that attracted the Blueshirts. Strome was more of a passer, and while that was not a bad thing, scoring was what the team needed, and the obvious way to do that was by getting the puck to the net, which is something that Trocheck regularly does.
Trocheck is also a player that is not afraid to go into the corners and get the puck. He wins many puck battles and, by doing so, has been able to create scoring opportunities for his linemates, whether it is someone like Kreider or, more recently, Artemi Panarin.
Lastly, Trocheck knows how to win faceoffs, which is something that the team has struggled with for years. Trocheck is 17th in the league this season with 463 faceoff wins.
While the real money is earned in the playoffs, Trocheck has done everything that has been asked of him so far. It will be up to him to continue to do so when it matters most.
