After the Rangers lost six straight games in the conference finals in less than three years, the plan wasn't to do it again. In fact, the plan was to free up cap space to revamp the club.
Specifically, they planned to move Jacob Trouba and his $8 million signing bonus, even though they would be obligated to retain up to 25% of the remaining two years of his contract when the captain's no-transfer clause became a 15-team trade no-transfer clause on July 1.
There were multiple interested parties — the Blueshirts were looking to trade their captain — but reliable word quickly spread around the league that Trouba had no intention of reporting to any of them if traded.
The Washington Post reported on July 1, citing reliable sources, that Trouba's original no-transfer clause was set to expire when his wife, Dr. Kelly Trouba, completed her medical training at a New York hospital. But Dr. Trouba's training was delayed by a year. The 30-year-old Rangers captain, who gave birth to a son with his wife in January, made it clear to officials that he would not leave his family behind, even as he put Detroit on his no-trade list as the team's top choice.
I think we all want to believe that we will make sacrifices for our partners and families and put our careers second. We all want to think that if Tami Taylor got the job of a lifetime offer in Philadelphia, we'd all be Coach Taylor. Trouba's instincts are totally admirable.
But at the same time, Trouba effectively turned a five-year transfer ban into a six-year transfer ban. The Rangers and general manager Chris Drury could have challenged Trouba and made this into a public spectacle, which would have been devastating. The Rangers made the most of this sticky situation.
There won't be any issues with the team over this. Trouba is a very popular captain. And there's no need for Drury or head coach Peter Laviolette to acknowledge the No. 8's place on the team. There won't be any friction over this. They know what happened.
But the moment the Trouba trade went through — and it happened by June 30 — the Rangers' offseason plans changed. There just wasn't enough room for the renovations they had envisioned. Potential free-agent players had already committed to other teams.
Trouba isn't going anywhere, management isn't willing to trade Chris Kreider and converted his no-trade clause into a limited no-trade clause, and management didn't ask Mika Zibandjied to waive his no-trade clause.
That's what underpinned the decision to bring it back.
That's not to say the Rangers might benefit from Trouba's decision. It's not cost-effective to put an $8 million defenseman on the third pairing, as Trouba is currently projected to be, but the Blueshirts couldn't have a more formidable third-pair right defenseman than their captain, who will continue his role on the first unit of a penalty kill that ranked third in the NHL last year.
There is no question, words aside, that Trouba played through the playoffs with a broken leg. He was not his normal self. He couldn't move laterally. His jump over Martin Necas and his exchange with Evan Rodriguez were out of line. Players who play in the playoffs with serious health issues are generally praised, but somehow Trouba is not. If he shouldn't have played, that was the coaching staff's decision, not the player's. Can you imagine a captain, any captain, asking to be removed?
Again, Trouba's leadership is an asset to the team, not a liability. A captaincy change was not necessary, and it isn't necessary now.
Incidentally, the plan changed not only because they couldn't trade Trouba, but also because the Rangers could have shipped Filip Chytil and rebuilt their team with a third line of bigger, physical, checking-type centers who could help Zibanejad (and Vincent Trocheck) in playoff matchups.
In Chytil's situation, trading him would have been nearly impossible: What GM would trade assets for a player who just missed nearly a year with a suspected fourth concussion, and who would be fired for a fifth concussion?
The Rangers could have bought out the three years remaining on Chytil's contract for a third, but A) the competition is fierce and brutal, and B) it would be foolish to release the (now) 25-year-old center for nothing in return before playing with Necas and watching him score 75 points.
This team is going to be very good, but other than hoping for the development of young players like K'Andre Miller, Will Cuylle, Braden Schneider, Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere and Zac Jones, I don't see how management addresses the physical deficiencies that cost them the Florida series and the Tampa Bay series two years ago.
They're still going to win the Cup by three scoring lines, I'm not sure, but the lineup could and probably will change significantly by the deadline, with Drury having spent all three years in office spring cleaning and renovating.
These are the 1997-98 NBA Chicago Bulls, who have not won five championships in the past seven seasons. This is The Last Dance.
This would be the last time the Rangers would attack again.
