Report: Jacob Trouba Blocked Trade To Atlantic Division Team

It was a troubling end to the season for Jacob Trouba, and the beleaguered defenseman was put on the trade block by the New York Rangers, news which did not sit well with him.

We now have a report, from Emily Kaplan of ESPN, that the Rangers did indeed have a trade agreed upon that would have sent Trouba to the Detroit Red Wings, but the veteran d-man put the kibosh on the deal, invoking his no-trade clause.

"There was a deal in place with the Red Wings, I am told, and Jacob used the power given to him in his contract—and he earned it—to block it, and that's within his rights," said Kaplan in an interview on TSN.

Trouba, the winner of this year's Mark Messier Leadership Award in the NHL, had his full no-move clause revert to a 15-team no-trade clause as of July 1st, and he submitted that list to GM Chris Drury, a list which included the Red Wings.

The 30-year-old reportedly did not want to move out of New York due to his wife being involved in finishing her residency as a medical doctor.

In addition, noted insider Elliotte Friedman last week, “The one thing I am reasonably certain of is that this whole situation that's developed over the last week or two has been hard on Trouba... The Rangers may have decided, for cap reasons, that they have to do this, but that doesn't mean that Trouba is ready for this."

So will the Rangers captain be back with the team to start the 2024-25 season? Kaplan believes he will be. “If I had to put my money on it right now, my gut is he will be on the Rangers opening night roster, even though this was a really uncomfortable process over these last several days and weeks.

“Unless something changes in the next three months,” Kaplan said. “He’s going to come back to this team, and we’re going to see what kind of captain he is.”

Trouba registered 22 points in 69 games this past season, with 183 blocked shots and 191 hits. He has two years remaining on his Rangers deal with an $8 million cap hit.

Kaplan also discussed the recent trade rumors swirling around New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba. The Rangers reportedly had a deal on the table with the Detroit Red Wings. However, the 30-year-old defenseman didn’t want to do it with his wife still finishing her residency as a medical doctor.

Kaplan believes Trouba will be in the Rangers lineup when they start the season in October even though it was a really uncomfortable process over the last days and weeks. She noted Trouba used his no-trade protection in his contract to nix the deal with the Red Wings.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Rangers general manager Chris Drury attempted an aggressive move to trade Trouba in the week leading up to the start of free agency. He hoped to shed most of his captain’s $8 million cap hit to Detroit to free up room for a foray or two into the UFA market.

Trouba used his no-trade protection to reject the deal as was his contractual right. He now has a 15-team no-trade list. Drury could peddle him to any club not on that list but it’s pointless to do so at this stage with all the top free-agent talent now gone from the market. Trouba isn’t moving unless Drury finds a return that improves the Rangers right away.