
Vincent Trocheck has agreed to terms with the New York Rangers on a seven-year contract, the team announced Wednesday. The deal is worth $5.625 million per year, according to a league source. Trocheck, 29, spent the past three seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes.
In 81 games last season, Trocheck posted 21 goals and 51 points. In the playoffs, he scored six goals and recorded 10 points in 14 games.
The Hurricanes (54-20-8) finished first in the Metropolitan Division before losing to the Rangers in the second round of the NHL playoffs. The Rangers had 110 points in the regular season last year, six behind the Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Trocheck, a Pittsburgh native, has played 555 games in his NHL career between the Hurricanes and Florida Panthers and has 378 points and 150 goals. His best statistical season came in 2017-18 in Florida when he had 75 points in 82 games.
New York also signed free-agent goaltender Jaroslav Halak to a one-year, $1.55 million deal Wednesday, per a source, as well as signing goalie Louis Domingue to a two-year contract.
Halak, 37, had a 2.94 goals-against average and .903 save percentage last season with the Canucks in 17 games played. Domingue only played two games in the regular season for the Penguins before needing to step in in the postseason against the Rangers.
In a cap-clearing trade to facilitate the other moves, the Rangers sent defenseman Patrik Nemeth, a 2025 second-round pick and a future conditional pick to the Arizona Coyotes for defenseman Ty Emberson.
For more, follow The Athletic's NHL free agency live updates.
(Photo: Danny Wild / USA Today)
Is this a good deal for the Rangers?
Arthur Staple, New York hockey columnist: The Rangers clearly made their call on the best player to fill their No. 2 center spot. They had months to work out a deal with either Andrew Copp or Ryan Strome, neither of whom is getting seven years anywhere, and Chris Drury decided to give term and a decent salary to Trocheck instead.
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Is this a good deal for Trocheck?
Staple: Definitely. He reportedly turned down an eight-year deal for around $5 million per year from Carolina last season and bet on getting something comparable elsewhere. Now he's got a good term, a good salary and a chance to play alongside Artemi Panarin to goose Trocheck's numbers.
The biggest unrestricted free agent forwards, Nazem Kadri and Johnny Gaudreau, commanded most of the attention early in free agency but no one did better than Trocheck in the opening hour.
Why couldn't it work with Trocheck and the Hurricanes?
Sara Civian, Hurricanes beat writer: Simply put, the Hurricanes are extremely term-averse with "aging" players, and the writing for Trocheck was on the wall with the Kotkaniemi signing.
The Canes entered free agency with 10 free agents and ~$20 million in cap space, and it was almost inevitable they would have to let Trocheck go with their pipeline of centers. That doesn't mean it won't sting — Trocheck offered crucial secondary scoring and snarl for the Canes in his tenure, and I wonder if Kotkaniemi is ready to replace him on the second line.
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