The New York Rangers are back to swinging for the fences, and they made a statement by trading for 25-year-old blueliner Jacob Trouba on Monday.
Rangers get: D Jacob Trouba
Jets get: D Neal Pionk, 2019 first-round pick (Winnipeg's own, No. 20 overall, previously acquired by New York in Kevin Hayes trade)
New York Rangers: A-
So that rebuild went ... way faster than anyone expected. The Rangers are about to be the toast of the NHL this week. Not only will they make the No. 2 pick of the 2019 draft -- it's likely to be instant-impact scorer Kaapo Kakko, but it's a win-win situation because the New Jersey Devils are the ones making the hard choice at No. 1 -- but New York is also announcing itself as back for the 2019-20 season. Sure, the kids and the frugal spending kept it together for the 2018-19 season, but the Rangers are about to look like their usual selves again: making splashy trades, inking rich contracts and contending for a Stanley Cup while Henrik Lundqvist is still in his prime.
Jacob Trouba is a big, top-pairing, right-handed shooting defenseman with excellent numbers both offensively and defensively at even strength. And he's only 25 -- totally in his prime. So yes, he is going to be due for a massive pay day (Trouba is a restricted free agent but can now sign a lucrative deal with the Rangers). But we know how this is going to turn out. It's the New York Rangers. They can afford him. More importantly: They're willing to afford him. There is some risk that the two sides can't come to an agreement, but Trouba can be a cornerstone piece who takes them through this rebuild and into the future, which, as previously mentioned, should center on making one last good run with Lundqvist still around.
Pionk had been a pleasant surprise for the Rangers last season, but he was by no means an untouchable prospect. The undrafted college free agent was coming off his first full season in the NHL, and we don't quite know what his career will bring. Defensemen are hard to predict. The Rangers have stockpiled four picks through the first two rounds this year, so they really won't miss this No. 20 pick too much.
This is yet another step in master maneuvering for Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton. Consider: He essentially turned Derick Brassard and a few months of Kevin Hayes into Mika Zibenejad, Brendan Lemieux, Trouba and a second-round pick. That's not shabby at all.
Winnipeg Jets: C-
It's hard to envy some of the decisions Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff needs to make. He has a team that's prime to be contending for multiple Stanley Cups right now, but only if he manages a fragile salary-cap situation. He needs to pay several players this summer, including Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor (likely each to rich contracts) as well as defenseman Tyler Myers. And then he had the Jacob Trouba situation to deal with, a saga that dates back years. Trouba and the Jets have long been apart on contract talks (remember when Trouba requested a trade in 2016 and later rescinded?), and the Jets knew even though they had a big, sturdy, right-handed shooting defenseman in his prime, it was going to be impossible to keep him.
The problem is, the rest of the NHL knew that too. Even though Trouba is a coveted asset -- multiple teams had pursued the defenseman, including the Rangers' Metropolitan Division rival New York Islanders -- he gave the Jets little leverage. At first glance, the return feels cheap. Pionk is coming off his first full NHL season and projects as a bottom-pairing defenseman for Winnipeg next season. He averaged more than 21 minutes per game last season, but he assumed a larger role than he deserved; remember, New York was not really in a position to win. His underlying numbers are not very good, but there seems to be upside. (And one immediate upside: He's a cheap contract on the books for a team that needs it. Pionk made just over $1 million last season, and he is a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration rights).
Cheveldayoff probably had buyers' remorse on Kevin Hayes (on whom he originally spent that No. 20 pick at the 2018-19 deadline) as he struggled to contribute for the Jets, who were upset in the first round of the playoffs. He gets that pick back ... but it's fair to question whether he could have received more.
After all, the Jets' window is now. Yes, Winnipeg was going to lose Trouba eventually. But let's consider the latest trend: teams keeping their own rentals. It worked for the Toronto Raptors, who acquired Kawhi Leonard, knowing it only might have been for one year. It worked for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who didn't get any return on Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky but made it further than they ever had in the playoffs in franchise history.
Might the Jets have been better off getting Trouba's services for one more year on another arbitrator-brokered bridge deal, then letting him walk as a free agent?