Trocheck thriving in all facets for Rangers, off to fast start in Stanley Cup Playoffs

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Vincent Trocheck quickly recalled the one other time in his 10-year NHL career that he had the type of chemistry with linemates that he has had all season with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière.

"It was eight years ago," the New York Rangers center said Tuesday. "I was with Reilly Smith and Jussi Jokinen almost the whole year."

That was with the Florida Panthers in the 2015-16 season, when Trocheck was 22 years old, an NHL regular for the first time.

It's different now. Much better too.

Trocheck, 30, is a heart-and-soul leader for the Rangers, who have a 2-0 lead on the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference First Round entering Game 3 of the best-of-7 series at Capital One Arena on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, MNMT, truTV, MSGSN, TNT, MSG, SN360, TVAS).

He already has a goal and two assists in the series.

"You're talking about a player who touches every part of our game if you think about it," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "Face-offs, offense, defense, power play, penalty kill, 6-on-5, 5-on-6, he is one of the first players out the door. He plays high minutes, he has been reliable. He is part of one of the top lines in the League with regards to producing offense. He is someone that we count on, that I count on and rely on."

Trocheck thrives on his reliability.

"I want to be touching every part of the game and I want to be sure I'm helping our team win," Trocheck said. "To do that, sometimes you have to be involved in different aspects of the game -- PK, 5-on-6, some of the grittier things, and I want to be out there in those situations. If anything, it helps me get into the game more."

At 5-on-5, Trocheck is the pivot, net driver, board battler, rush starter, defensive conscience and overall ice general on New York's best and most consistent line all season, also one of the best and most consistent lines in the NHL all season.

His ability to interact and connect with Panarin and Lafreniere has led to all three forwards having the best seasons of their career.

Panarin had an NHL career-high 120 points (49 goals, 71 assists) in 82 games. He scored in Game 1 against the Capitals off a pass from Trocheck after Lafreniere forced the turnover with a hit in the corner on defenseman Vincent Iorio. 

Lafreniere had his best regular season in the NHL with 57 points (28 goals, 29 assists). He has three assists in two games against Washington; Trocheck had an assist on two of the three goals Lafreniere helped set up.

Trocheck, not surprisingly, had his best regular season, too, with 77 points (25 goals, 52 assists), second on the team behind Panarin.

He also had 77 points (31 goals, 44 assists) with the Panthers in 2017-18, but Trocheck's contributions to the Rangers this season are greater than what he did for Florida six years ago in part because he helped Panarin reach new heights and Lafreniere establish himself as a top forward in his fourth season.

"I just understand the game more, I have a lot more maturity and I can focus on a lot of things that change from game to game," Trocheck said. "Having 'Bread' and 'Laffy', they're two different hockey minds that I can talk to every game, and we can build on our chemistry and try to make each other better, try to make our line better. That is something goes a long way and maybe something I did not have the wherewithal to do eight years ago."

Eight years ago, he also didn't have the wherewithal to effectively impact all areas of Florida’s game the way he does with New York.

Trocheck is the face-off specialist and bumper man on the Rangers' top power-play unit. They were third in the NHL this season at 26.4 percent. He's one of the first forwards over the boards on for a penalty-kill unit that finished third in the League at 84.5 percent.

He was second in the NHL in power play face-offs won, with 201 of 314 (64.0 percent). Trocheck has already won 10 of 13 power play face-offs in two games against Washington.

He won 52.0 percent of his short-handed face-offs (39 of 75).

"A little thing people might not think about but face-offs on the power play to start with the puck and not have to go and chase it or have to go and try to enter the zone again right away, that's a big thing," Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. "Overall, his game has been on point and it's been fun to watch. The confidence he's built up is impressive. I hated playing against him and I think I said when he got here [that] he's a guy that I love having on my team."

Trocheck's game has stayed at a high level consistently throughout the and into the first two games of the playoffs even though he's asked to do so much. In the regular season, he went three straight games without a point twice and had point streaks of four or more games five times.

He had at least one point in Games 1 and 2 against the Capitals, won 27 of 38 face-offs (71.1 percent) and got the most ice time of any Rangers forward (42:43, second on the team behind defenseman Adam Fox's 44:30).

"Inside a season there's always some ups and downs, but his downs are not as deep and they don't last quite as long," Laviolette said. "He seems to come in everyday with a really good mindset about the game of hockey and practicing and playing and knowledge. He's got a great work ethic, one of the leaders on our team who sets the right tone every day and he's been pretty consistent with it."

All of the work with Panarin and Lafreniere, on the power play, penalty kill, empty net situations both ways and leadership in the room still isn't enough for Trocheck to laud himself.

Is this his best season, he was asked?

"Ask me again in two months," he answered.

It might be a relevant question then too.