By Abhinav Tirumala
Jacob Trouba’s tenure as a New York Ranger is mercifully over, ending after six years following his 2019 trade from the Winnipeg Jets. On Friday, Dec. 6, Rangers general manager Chris Drury gave Trouba an ultimatum to either accept a trade to one of the places on his 15-team no-trade list or be put on waivers and claimed by any team. Ultimately, Trouba chose to waive his NTC and join the Anaheim Ducks.
In this article, we will analyze both halves of the trade and ultimately decide who won and who lost the trade and how it impacts both teams. Let’s first look at the overall trade and then grade both teams.
To Anaheim Ducks: RD Jacob Trouba ($8M AAV, 2026 UFA) with a 15-team NTC
To New York Rangers: LD Urho Vaakanainen ($1.1M, 2025 RFA), 2025 conditional 4th rd pick
Draft pick conditions: New York receives the lower of Detroit or Anaheim’s 2025 4th-round pick
(Trade, salary and draft pick details retrieved from PuckPedia)
New York Rangers: A+++
The Rangers' side of this trade is nothing short of amazing. Drury came out looking like Chancellor Palpatine after executing Order 66. Not only did Drury manage to get rid of an $8M anchor contract, but he managed to pick up assets to do so. By removing Trouba and not retaining any money, the Rangers can immediately shed $6.9M of cap space and have up to $20M of deadline cap space, according to PuckPedia.
Vaakanainen is a decent depth option, as he will likely head down to the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack once he is healthy and off the injured reserve. The 4th round pick is also an asset that can be used for further trades or as draft capital down the line. To top it all off, the Rangers used some of the gained cap space to extend star goaltender Igor Shesterkin for eight more years at an $11.5M cap hit, solidifying the crease for the future and making Shesty a Ranger for life.
In conclusion, the Rangers should throw a party, pass around the gabbagoul and prepare for the trade deadline in March (though they might want to win some more games between now and then).
Anaheim Ducks: D
In simple terms, I do not understand how the Ducks look so foolish after this trade. Pat Verbeek was doing the Rangers a favour by taking on his contract—not getting an asset or retention in his return is disgraceful. Trouba’s on-ice impact has declined significantly over the past few seasons, making him a high-tier third-pair defenceman. As far back as the 2022 playoffs, the Rangers deployed Trouba on the third pair alongside Zac Jones rather than in his traditional second pair spot alongside K’Andre Miller. This season, Trouba’s been downright dismal, with the Rangers continually shuffling around his partner, often paired with Ryan Lindgren (also on the trade block) or Braden Schneider on the 3rd pair.
On the Ducks, the hope is that Trouba can rediscover his offensive flair from his Winnipeg Jets days. His career high was 50 points in his 2018-19 season, and he brings leadership and experience the Ducks brass covet. But with no retention on one of the worst contracts in the league when there is already a platoon of young, talented D-men on the Ducks, it's a tough sell for me to say how Anaheim got significantly better.
At the end of the day, bad teams stay bad, and Pat Verbeek’s awful asset management is an example.
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