Heck no on trouba.

Rangers pass

The lack of support NYR forwards provide often does expose Trouba's deficiencies...but the way the Canes play team defense, those deficiencies could be minimized- and with the physicality he brings, you'd have a beast of a Dman. BUT...he's nowhere near the offensive force he wants to be and does not belong on the PP. That said- he's for sure not an $8M defenseman....so I hear ya as far as saying no on him. If you could get him with 1.5- 2.5M retained though...different story.

BTW...NYR not interested in Skjei

The problem with "if you were in charge" or anyone else on here is the difficult realization that these wouldn't go through. Just for starters, NY isn't trading their captain and even if they did he would probably decline.

Sheltering Trouba with Slavin would probably turn him back into more of what he looked like playing with Morrissey. I'd absolutely make this trade because of how badly he straps us cap wise.

They shouldn't!

Yeah, they should. They are already too soft a team and without Trouba they have almost no grit.

Jesus christ, not this again.

Yeah, this again. Why do you think the Bruins added Hathaway and Bertuzzi to an already stacked team that is on a record pace this year? Why did TB add Tanner? GRIT. Rangers need more, not less.

All of those guys cost nothing in terms of salary $. "GRIT" is not enough of a reason to keep this albatross. You allocate 1, maybe 2-3% of your cap space to "GRIT", not 10% . for all the moaning about what "GRIT" means to a lineup, the best teams understand that it's something you address only AFTER everything that really matters is accounted for; skill, scoring and sound defensive depth. You can get "GRIT" elsewhere for cheaper and in someone who might do more than block shots and delivery poorly timed hits that take them out of position leading to goals against.

You realize that in this hypothetical, the Rangers could take back Skjei's $5.25M, sign Garnet Hathaway as a UFA for $2M, and still have an extra $750K under the cap?

Stars having grit/sandpaper is a nice bonus, but if the main reason you keep $8M Trouba over $5.25M Skjei is "grit", well - you can get that much cheaper than that, and clearing that deal off the books has a lot more value than spending UFA dollars on that sandpaper you're looking for.

Tell that to TB who didn't start winning cups until after they added substantial grit to their line ups, and they still do as they did this TDL. Tell that to Boston. There is a REASON the Rangers have not won a Cup since 94, and having too little grit, year in and year out is a big part of it.

How said grit was the only reason? Trouba is the unquestioned leader of the team, who turned the entire season around by losing his mind and calling everyone out, plus he blocks tons of shots, can add offense like he did last season at 0.50 pts per game, and his defense is pretty good. It's not his fault the Rangers forwards forget how to back check 90% of the time.

Trouba turned the season around? His defense is good? Is this his burner?

Who was it that woke the team up after their terrible start? Wasn't it Trouba with several big hits and fights in back to back games followed by his throwing the helmet and calling out his team? After that game, what happened? Didn't they go on a nice long winning streak putting them into playoff position? Or did that not happen? They were 12-10-5 when he did that and the next 23 games were 16-4-3. What is the value of a guy that can do that for a team, cap wise? And yeah, his defense is pretty good, blocks tons of shots, clears the crease. Not his fault the Rangers wingers don't back check 90% of the time. Bottom line is Trouba has value in the intangibles no one else on the team provides, outside of Goodrow, and the intangibles he provides are vital in the playoffs. Without Trouba's grit, the Rangers don't advance past the Penguins last playoffs. What is the value of that cap wise????

I really personally like Trouba, which is why I traded for him. He is very physical and a good leader so he is worth the 8M if we can offload Skjei.

Yeah agreed. The Canes have an awesome team but the one aspect they need a little more of is grit and Trouba would provide that for sure. Even so, they have a great shot this year at a cup.