Jacob Trouba’s move out of New York has finally come.
The New York Rangers traded their captain to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round draft pick on Friday afternoon. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun was the first to report the full details of the trade.
Offical trade call with the league hasn't happened yet, so still pending that approval, but it will be defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round pick to the Rangers for Trouba.
Ducks take on full Trouba contract. No salary retained by Rangers.— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 6, 2024
The move comes after Trouba was held out of a Rangers skate on Friday morning for “roster management reasons.” New York has been at odds with Trouba for months and reportedly were unsuccessful in their efforts to trade him over the offseason.
Trouba’s full no-trade clause expired on July 1. As of that same date, the 30-year-old defenseman was left with a partial 15-team no-trade clause. According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, Trouba waived his clause to complete the move to Anaheim.
Per The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, Trouba refused to waive for another trade that would have sent him to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The deal leaves the Rangers with increased salary cap flexibility nearly two weeks after they made it known they were looking to seriously shake up their team. Trouba, 30, has two seasons remaining on a seven-year deal worth $8 million per season.
After the Trouba trade, #NYR have $5.9M projected cap space.
This can fit $8.6M annual cap hit today or $27M at the deadline assuming no roster moves https://t.co/Zwz9vKwABr
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) December 6, 2024
Vaakanainen is a veteran of 141 NHL games split between the Ducks and Boston Bruins. The 25-year-old Finnish blueliner has featured in just five games for Anaheim this season and was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday.
New York is fourth in the Metropolitan Division with a 13-10-1 record. They are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games.
The New York Post’s Larry Brooks also sparked rumors that the Rangers might make another major move for Ottawa Senators star Brady Tkachuk on Friday. However, hockey insider Darren Dreger and Ottawa’s Vice President of Communications Ian Mendes flat-out rejected those rumors as false.
