The New York Rangers have traded center Vincent Trocheck to the Utah Mammoth, the teams announced Wednesday.
In return, the Rangers are receiving defenseman Sean Durzi, forward prospect Cole Beaudoin and a 2027 third-round pick.
Trocheck was one of the top centers on the trade market this summer and comes with term. The 32-year-old is under contract through the 2028-29 season with a $5.625 million cap hit. Trocheck had a no-movement clause the first three years of his deal, signed in July 2022, but that shifted to a 12-team no-trade list last summer. It moved to a 10-team list on Wednesday.
The Rangers considered moving Trocheck at the NHL trade deadline in March, holding him out of the lineup the night before the deadline for roster management reasons, but opted to hold him, hoping for a better return this summer.
Trocheck had 53 points (16 goals and 37 assists) in 67 games this past season and was part of the United States team that won a gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Rangers team president Chris Drury opted to sign Trocheck and let Ryan Strome walk as a free agent in summer 2022 with the hope of upgrading the second-line center position for a team that had gone on a deep playoff run that spring.
It turned out to be a fruitful decision, with Trocheck providing a versatile presence in New York’s top six for the next four seasons. He had 253 points in 313 games with the Rangers and averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time a night. Trocheck’s best moments as a Ranger came in the 2023-24 season. He had a career-high 77 points that year, represented the team at the All-Star Game, and put up 20 points in 16 playoff games, including an overtime-winning goal in the second round against Carolina.
With Trocheck’s departure, only seven of the 22 Rangers players who appeared in 2024 playoff games remain with the team.
What is New York receiving in return?
Trocheck’s loss hurts the Rangers up the middle and telegraphs that the team will play captain J.T. Miller at center next year. He and Mika Zibanejad will be the team’s top two centers with Trocheck gone, and Noah Laba and newly signed Joe Veleno are in line to take the bottom-six responsibilities.
In Durzi, the Rangers bring on a right-shot defenseman who had five goals and 27 points in 60 games last year. He’s averaged more than 20 minutes per game in his career and can play in a top-four role. He scored an overtime winner against the Rangers in January. He’s 27, so the Rangers view him as someone who can contribute beyond this season. He has another year on his deal with a $6 million cap hit.
The acquisition created a log jam for New York on the right side, so it flipped Will Borgen to Boston for a 2027 second-round pick and 2028 conditional third-round pick. The Rangers will now have Adam Fox, Durzi and Braden Schneider as their three defensemen on the right side.
Beaudoin, a 2024 first-round pick, was the No. 7 prospect in Scott Wheeler’s April rankings of Utah’s pool. He had 33 goals and 88 points for OHL Barrie last season. He’ll join the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack next season.
“He should become an effective bottom-six player in the NHL someday,” Wheeler wrote. “He has a high floor and will get the most out of his career because of his drive, heaviness on pucks, battle level, strength in the dot, willingness to lay the body or block a shot and his forechecking. If he can continue to refine his touch and work on his hands and his first couple of steps, he’ll have a long career.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.