Asking price to acquire and sign Jacob Trouba won’t be cheap
Larry Brooks of the NY Post: The New York Rangers and New York Islanders are among the teams aggressively going after Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba.
The New Jersey Devils are also interested.
The cost to acquire Trouba is high in both trading for him as well as signing him to an extension.
The Jets haven’t given teams permission yet to speak with Trouba’s agent to see what he’s looking for. It could take seven years and up to $7.5 million.
A dozen teams could be interested. The cost is believed to be a first-round pick and a pair of legit prospects or young NHLers.
The Rangers could offer their No. 20 pick, RFA Pavel Buchnevich and maybe Nils Lundkvist, but that may not be enough. Would including Lias Andersson be too much for the Rangers?
Would the Islanders be willing to include Noah Dobson?
Would the Devils package Jesper Bratt and Jesper Boqvist or Ty Smith? Very doubtful the Devils would include Smith.
The Rangers could buyout defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and/or Brendan Smith. They could move out more salary by trading Jimmy Vesey ($2.275 million) and/or Vladislav Namestnikov ($4 million).
Jets not hiding the fact that they are talking to teams about Trouba
Craig Custance of The Athletic: If Jacob Trouba isn’t traded, he’d likely take a one-year deal and would basically be a rental for the Jets next year.
Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff isn’t hiding the fact that they are talking to other teams about Trouba.
“We’re having conversations with teams about the potential of trading him,” Cheveldayoff told The Athletic on Wednesday. “It’s like everything at this point in time — there are many, many conversations on the go from 31 different teams. There’s a lot of nuances that come in and out of every conversation that you have, not just necessarily about Jacob Trouba but your hockey team.”
There has been talk that Trouba doesn’t want to play with a Canadian team. He’d fit a need for the Toronto Maple Leafs but fitting money in may be an issue.
“His agent is one of the king ballbusters of all time,” said one NHL source. “If you’re a player, I guess you want that guy in your corner. But it could also be problematic when you have such a powerful guy.”
The Detroit Red Wings could use a top-pairing defenseman and have the cap space.
Trouba’s fiancee is going to med school in Florida, so playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning or Florida Panthers may interest him. The Panthers want to improve their defense but maybe have other targets as a priority.
The Philadelphia Flyers would like a right-handed partner for Ivan Provorov.
