New York Rangers Acquire Jacob Trouba From Winnipeg Jets for Neal Pionk and 2019 20th Overall Pick
The New York Rangers have acquired Jacob Trouba!
OFFICIAL: #NYR have acquired defenseman Jacob Trouba from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Neal Pionk and the 20th overall pick in the 2019 #NHLDraft (originally from WPG). pic.twitter.com/rZTXYv4YG1
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) June 17, 2019
The cost to acquire Trouba, a defender I talked about in-depth in a story today, is a steal. The Rangers gave up practically nothing in this trade, as they sent RFA defenseman Neal Pionk, and the first-round pick acquired from the Jets in the Kevin Hayes trade.
Pionk ended the 2018-19 season with six goals, and 20 assists for 26 points in 73 games, and he is a defender who can slot in on the right side for the Jets. He’s an obvious downgrade, and it is surprising he’s the defender going the other way.
It is possible that Winnipeg asked for someone like Tony DeAngelo and were told no, but this package is a far cry from the ask speculated.
It is possible that the low return is because Trouba was only going to extend with a small number of teams, and because the Jets wanted to have as much cap space available to deal with their pending RFAs while keeping Nikolaj Ehlers.
Trouba is an RFA that the Rangers will need to negotiate a new deal with, but this was an amazing deal that will have a chain reaction on the rest of the defense. It will be interesting to see what type of extension follows, but this is a massive win for general manager Jeff Gorton.
