Speculation: 2024-25 - Free Agency/Trade Thread

[tomd]

This runs contrary to literally every piece of reporting out there. Other teams wanted him, and Trouba stated as much. And Trouba would know since he was involved in the discussions.

Edit: Or what All Mighty said above me.

We know Columbus was one team but I wonder about how many others were really in on Trouba. How many teams could have afforded to take on his cap hit? Realistically very few without sending back a lot of salary in return. Verbeek wanted Trouba and could take on his full cap hit. If he plays well then it was a win for both teams.

 

[Rybread86]

We know Columbus was one team but I wonder about how many others were really in on Trouba. How many teams could have afforded to take on his cap hit? Realistically very few without sending back a lot of salary in return. Verbeek wanted Trouba and could take on his full cap hit. If he plays well then it was a win for both teams.

3 Canadian teams for sure (OTT, WPG, VAN) but he came out and said he did not want to live in Canada. CBJ, DET, BUF, ANA. So 7 teams had interest at minimum. Most of the teams probably didnt get far with any discussions due to Trouba no-trade or at least his strong feels about not wanting to live in certain areas.

Detroit seems to be the most questionable one because there was rumored interest but from Troubas comments, it doesnt sound like they pressed hard for it. Possible they just werent willing to match current offers or were looking to offload and NYR didnt want to take back anything significant, so it just died there.

This was more than just moving on from Trouba for the Rangers. So a lot of teams could have had interest but when told that NYR didnt want any salary coming back, teams just ended it there.

 

[Gliff]

But why would Columbus claim a player that they know doesn't want to play for them? That is just inviting a headache and Columbus certainly doesn't need any more issues than they already have.

Anyway, what's done is done and the end result is that the Ducks have a better balance in their lineup with Trouba in and Fowler out. Everything else is just speculation.

The Ducks did it with Marchant. It isn't unusual.

 

[duckpuck]

Of course that's a possibility. It could just be Fowler wanting to move on and the Ducks accommodating him because it made sense for them, too.

But it's just a bit strange that a guy who's been a lifelong Duck - maybe not a fan favorite, but certainly a guy well-respected by (most) fans - has no desire to play 1,000 games with the team. The Ducks would have, presumably, made a big deal out of this. They could have sent him off after celebrating him with the well wishes and goodwill of the organization, feting him as he deserves. If Fowler wanted that, I'm sure they would have done it. It was like three more weeks.

So either Fowler didn't want it or he did and the organization shipped him out anyway (which is less likely since Fowler had to waive his NTC to move). By itself, maybe you take it as just business. But there is so much smoke around the organization - Murray was abusive, Verbeek is a hard negotiator and hard to work for, Cronin makes players hate playing for them, and the team continues to lose. It's difficult not to see this as part of that pattern - a longtime Duck is so tired of the organization he'd rather get traded 3 weeks before a huge milestone.

I think it would be more awkward to trade him after a big celebration of his 1,000 game as a duck. A celebration that would occur when everyone knows a trade is imminent. And what if Fowler gets hurt in the meantime?

I agree Fowler probably didn't like playing for Cronin. But so what? The ducks needed to trade Fowler in any event and there is no reason for either the team or Fowler to put sentimentality over what is best for them. The best thing for both parties was for Fowler to move on ASAP.

There is certainly no guarantee that any team would have claimed Trouba on waivers. It is just as likely that he would have cleared waivers and been sent to the AHL. In that case, the cap hit for the Rangers would have been $7 million even with Trouba in the minors.

IMO, Verbeek wanted Trouba and was willing to pay his full cap hit along with giving up Vaak and a 4th. Maybe there was competition for Trouba and Verbeek paid the price he needed to get him. Nothing wrong with that but I'm left with the troubling feeling that Verbeek let his desire to acquire Trouba override his duty to get the best deal possible. The Rangers escaped a very bad situation very cheaply and Verbeek helped them do it.

Verbeek's duty isn't to get the best deal. It is to do what is best for the hockey club even if that means agreeing to a worse deal. The best deal for Fowler is probably at next year's TDL, but of course both Verbeek and Fowler weren't going to wait until then.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

It seems like Kakko and the Rangers may be coming towards a split. There were rumors that PV was showing interest at the deadline.

It seems like a decent potential buy low opportunity. Young player that has yet to live up to his offensive potential, but has actually shown a pretty strong defensive knack. I think he makes sense to put with Carlsson, more so than who we've played with him as late. The bonus there is that Kakko seems to be becoming a good faceoff guy, 53% over the last two seasons and taking far more than ever this year. He could help prop up our struggling faceoff situation, even as a winger.

 

[lwvs84]

It seems like Kakko and the Rangers may be coming towards a split. There were rumors that PV was showing interest at the deadline.

It seems like a decent potential buy low opportunity. Young player that has yet to live up to his offensive potential, but has actually shown a pretty strong defensive knack. I think he makes sense to put with Carlsson, more so than who we've played with him as late. The bonus there is that Kakko seems to be becoming a good faceoff guy, 53% over the last two seasons and taking far more than ever this year. He could help prop up our struggling faceoff situation, even as a winger.

It would be amazing if there was a part 2 to the Trouba trade and we were getting Kakko cheap... unfortunately, I don't have any faith in that happening.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

It would be amazing if there was a part 2 to the Trouba trade and we were getting Kakko cheap... unfortunately, I don't have any faith in that happening.

Lundy + prospect + 2nd, something like that