[ad_1]
As the Ducks prepared for Monday’s matchup with Montreal, they said “bienvenue” to their new teammate, defenseman Jacob Trouba, who joined the team north of the border to make his debut against the Canadiens.
Trouba was acquired Friday from the New York Rangers, who like the Philadelphia Flyers last season when they traded Cutter Gauthier to the Ducks, moved something of a distressed asset that they’d been shopping since at least late June.
The former Winnipeg Jets star and Rangers captain, who will turn 31 in February, will make $8 million against the cap this season and next.
While the Rangers, who fancied themselves contenders after reaching the conference finals last year, found that price too high to continue paying –– such to the point that they threatened to waive Trouba to bypass his limited no-trade clause –– the Ducks had cap space to spare this season and next. They opted to use a chunk of it on one of the biggest hitters in the NHL and a player who won the Mark Messier Leadership Award last season to boot.
As they prepared for their four-game road trip, forward Ryan Strome, who played three seasons in New York with Trouba, said he felt that despite a 5-1 shellacking by Minnesota on Friday, the Ducks had made strides recently.
“All in all, I think we’re starting to see this thing move in the right direction,” Strome said. “To add someone like that with his character, what he brings to the game and the fear he puts in the other team makes our young guys and our skill guys a little freer, and takes some heat off (Radko Gudas) and some of our bigger boys back there. It’s going to be a great add; it’s an exciting time. It’s great timing with this road trip around Christmas, it’s crunch time and hopefully he adds a big jolt.”
Strome said when he spoke to Trouba he sensed he was “highly motivated” with “a little bit of weight off his shoulders” after a rocky first third of the season for team and player alike — as well as an acrimonious parting with the Rangers.
Trouba said Friday that he would try to make organic inroads and genuine connections within his new organization, and Strome spoke to the kind of persona and voice Trouba might add to the Ducks’ dressing room.
“A steady, humble leader that tries to do everything right and is willing to go to the tough areas and do the tough things: fight, hit, block shots, kill penalties, and play in the ‘D’ zone. He’s not looking for any glory,” Strome said. “The last few years have been tough, at the deadline we’ve lost veteran guys and character guys. To see a guy added to the group really means something to the guys in here.”
Coach Greg Cronin echoed Strome’s sentiment about the Ducks’ recent play, which included a 6-3-1 stretch during which he felt they actually lost their best game, a 2-1 squeaker won by the Kings on Nov. 29. He also expressed enthusiasm about Trouba’s arrival.
“Jacob Trouba represents the physicality, the identity that you have to play with,” Cronin said. “He’s a guy that can step up on the forecheck, stop plays, and kill plays in the defensive zone. He’s got a heck of a shot and having another right shot back there will help us keep pucks alive in the cycle.”
Trouba’s first challenge –– and maybe Leo Carlsson’s next challenge, as the injured pivot participated fully in practice Sunday –– will be to play four games in six nights on the road, beginning in Montreal.
Like the Ducks, the Canadiens are in the nascent stages of a build. They’ve been chasing the .500 mark since Game 9 of the season.
Goalie Sam Montembault’s continued emergence led him to be selected by Team Canada for February’s Four Nations Faceoff. Captain Nick Suzuki paces the Habs in points while Cole Caufield has continued to be their most lethal sniper.
Rookie Lane Hutson’s six-game scoring streak (seven points) has catapulted him above fellow blue-liner Mike Matheson while also tying him with Chris Chelios and Glen Harmon for the longest surge by a rookie defenseman in the Habs’ storied franchise history.
