Rangers' Captain Jacob Trouba Traded to Ducks for Urho Vaakanainen, Draft Pick

Nearly two weeks after New York Rangers General Manager Chris Drury announced he was open for business, team captain Jacob Trouba has been traded to the Anaheim Ducks.

There it is, folks, another Captain from the New York Rangers shipped out of town. Let's pause here, take a step back, and review this trade. First off, Trouba's full contract coming off the books is a win for the Rangers. It's an even bigger win getting a bottom-pair defenseman and draft pick in return. It's become common for teams looking to dump salary to have to sweeten the pot with a prospect or draft pick themselves, so this is excellent work by Chris Drury.

The fourth-round pick the Rangers receive will either be Anaheim's or Detroit's, depending on which one is lower in the draft order. Reviewing the player the Blueshirts got back, Vaakanainen won't be a game-changer; the former Boston Bruins first-round pick is a big defensive defenseman who can slot in on the bottom pair. Another note on Vaakanainen is that he last played early in November and was recently placed on IR by the Ducks due to an upper-body injury. This level of player is equivalent to Chad Ruhwedel, a 7th defender who will toe the line of an NHL-caliber player; you can see the breakdown of his stats below, thanks to JFresh Hockey.

A couple of things to consider now: are the Rangers done? Ultimately, it may take some time for Drury to now orchestrate the moves or plans he was looking to implement before Trouba blocked them by exercising his no-trade clause in the offseason. The Rangers now have approximately $8 million in cap space, so it's hard to envision Drury not pushing to acquire a big piece. Brady Tkachuk had been reported on as a rumor, but the Senators PR team and a couple of insiders weighed in on that being very much a rumor. Does the team name a captain? It took a couple of years before Trouba stepped into what has become the Ranger's version of the gallows, so the leadership by committee that has had limited success will more than likely be what continues. Another note is whose to say the player who'd be up next will even be with the team in a few weeks. Pulling bigger pieces in a trade takes a lot, and right now, it feels like no one is safe. Last but not least, Kreider, the other name mentioned by Drury, what does his future as a Ranger look like? Only time will tell.