If Trouba was a goner, Drury should have started laying down that ground work BEFORE the end of the Finals.
Asking him for his list 3/5/7 days before 07/01/24 was a mistake.
I don't see how it would have changed anything. Trouba would have been under no obligation to provide the list a month ago. And if he did, it still wouldn't change the dynamic where he's
apparently making it known he won't go anywhere else, effectively scaring other teams away from trading for him. For whatever it's worth, Arthur Staple reported that's what happened, that Trouba was asked for the list last week and refused to submit it until Monday morning, which was the deadline.
IMO the reporting has been off on this since the beginning. Brooks says he's close to being traded and Friedman even says the same thing on TV during the draft. Then it falls apart, and we hear that things are acrimonious, Trouba is shocked and hurt.
And then Brooks issues a rare acknowledgement that what he had originally was wrong, that the trade wasn't about to happen and Trouba didn't try to kill it, and on top of that, all the discussion have been professional and cordials.
The only thing that seems to be without question is that Trouba isn't interested in being traded this year with his wife still finishing the residency and the new kid. Everything beyond that, it's a f***ing mystery what actually happened.
There's plenty of things one can criticize Drury for, but the guy isn't an idiot. That getting rid of Trouba was going to be an adventure was obvious even to a regular guy like me; I got into a lengthy argument about it the night before free agency opened. At that time I laid out basically this exact situation, where Trouba could just tell everyone he didn't want to move, and then no one would take him. This isn't me tooting my own horn, I'm just bringing it up to say that if I could see this situation unfolding, I'm sure the Rangers could, too, and I didn't even know about the residency being delayed or whatever that is.
My guess is, the reality is that the Rangers had some exploratory talks with Detroit and whoever else, made progress, broached the subject with Trouba knowing he might bristle at it, he did, and they simply backed off. And the rest of it is just speculation from angry fans who want the guy gone (I want him gone, too, for what it's worth).