Discussion of the Day: 9/28/23
Happy Thursday, and welcome back for another discussion of the day post. Tonight the New York Rangers are in action again, and they will once again be at Madison Square Garden to take on the New Jersey Devils. Yesterday’s discussion involved Kaapo Kakko, and part of the discussion was centered on how he’s spent time playing and practicing with Vincent Trocheck thus far. This has been a frequent duo deployed by Peter Laviolette, and it is my assumption that they will start together when the regular season gets underway in a few weeks. But it remains to be seen in what capacity, and that leads to today’s prompt.
What role do you think Vincent Trocheck will have to start the season?
In simplest terms, will Trocheck be the No. 2 C or the No. 3 C? As time goes on I don’t think will be as much of an issue, because the Rangers have at least nine very good forwards they can put together to deploy three quality lines, something they haven’t been able to do in quite some time. I think that with Trocheck the Rangers are simultaneously juggling two things. His contract carries a no-movement clause this season and next, and it then downgrades to a modified no-trade clause starting in 2025-26.
Filip Chytil just signed a four-year deal, and it signifies the team’s faith in him, and how they think there’s a lot of potential there. Essentially, I think the Rangers want to see how Chytil develops with more ice time and opportunity, and also have Trocheck around while they are in the midst of contending for a championship. Once his contract changes, and the salary cap is much larger, they will have the flexibility to move on if they need to.
Having a new coaching staff means that each player has a blank slate of sorts in which they need to prove themselves, and the coaching staff will also determine what traits they feel are most important for winning hockey games. That said, I think from a hierarchy perspective, the Rangers would prefer him as the No. 2 C in name, since they don’t want to be in a world where they have a No. 3 center making $5.625 million a year while also potentially having a player on the fourth line making $3.641 million too.
I’d love to know what you think. Is one spot better than the other? Is the distinction of a 2/3C meaningless given how they are approaching this season? There are no wrong answers here, and I hope you have a great day.
