Mailbag: Trouba trade rumors with Rangers; coping with travel
NHL.com's Dan Rosen answers weekly questions
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What's next with the Jacob Trouba situation? How awkward is the relationship with him and the front office right now and how much fence needs to be mended? Feel like this is still the elephant in the room with him likely on the team when camp starts. -- @\Kevin\Stewart
Unless he's traded before camp opens, Trouba will be with the New York Rangers and penciled in as a top-six defenseman, likely on the third pair with Zac Jones factoring in Braden Schneider on the second pair with K'Andre Miller and the top pair being Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren, who remains a restricted free agent. If professionalism prevails, this won't be an issue for Trouba or the Rangers throughout the season.
Trouba is not a me-first player, and his teammates and the Rangers coaching staff have nothing to do with the business of the game. He will play hard. He will play to win. If he doesn't, it'll be noticeable and it'll be a problem he's creating for himself, but it would be shocking if anything like that happens. Trouba has been nothing but professional as an NHL player, and that's the expectation in this situation.
Is it awkward for him to know the Rangers were looking to trade him? It probably is, yes. Is it an elephant in the room right now? Sure, but he's not the first player in history who is playing for a team that was actively looking to trade him. It won't be an elephant in the room if Trouba addresses the situation head-on when camp opens. That's my expectation. It'll be a big story that day. He will get asked about his relationship with the front office, specifically general manager Chris Drury. He will be asked about the no-trade list he had to submit. He will be asked if he thought he would be back with New York, if he thought he'd be traded, and if he has any ill will toward the team. His teammates will be asked about him.
If Trouba's history and personality are indicators, he will answer honestly but not make himself bigger than the team. His teammates will have his back. After that, it'll be a story if and when the news dictates, which it surely will again at some point, but that shouldn't and likely won't impact how Trouba goes about his business with the Rangers as their captain and a top-six defenseman to start the season. It can't, or New York will have bigger problems.
The Dallas Stars have the most travel miles this upcoming season. The Pittsburgh Penguins have the least. How much of an advantage is there for teams in the northeast? Seems they don't travel as much or cross many time zones. -- @theashcity
I saw something about this on X. I don't have it confirmed, but it makes sense that the Stars, the only team in Texas, the largest state in the continental United States, would have the most travel in the NHL, especially this season since they are playing the Florida Panthers at the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal at Nokia Arena in Tampere on Nov. 1-2.
The closest team to Stars in the Central Division is the St. Louis Blues at 630 miles. They play there once this season. It's more than 900 miles to Chicago and Minnesota, and more than 1,200 each to Utah and Winnipeg. They go to each of those four cities twice. The Stars play 33 of their 82 games outside of the Central time zone, including the two in Finland, which is eight time zones away from Dallas.
It is all a factor when considering the wear and tear the Stars players will have on their bodies by the end of the regular season. And, yes, it's an advantage for the teams in the northeast, especially the majority in the Metropolitan Division. Less travel means more time spent at home, which equals more nights in your own bed and the ability to control your sleep patterns better. It plays a major role in performance and recovery.
But the Stars should be prepared for the travel. There is a science to rest and recovery when it comes to performance, specifically for professional athletes, and the knowledge within the medical community continues to evolve and grow. The Stars have a director of sports performance. They will have a plan for when to fly after road games and when to stay an extra night in a city to optimize sleep. Their practice schedule will be dictated by their travel. The travel will be significant, but it is for anybody who plays in the Western Conference. There is a geographic advantage to playing in the Eastern Conference.
Recently, the Washington Capitals gained an additional $3.9 million in cap space from the Evgeny Kuznetsov contract termination. They most likely will have Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie on LTIR. Do you see them adding a top six forward? Patrik Laine? -- @samb999
The answer regarding Laine is the same as it was two weeks ago when you asked me a similar question about the Capitals and if a trade for Laine would look similar to the Kuznetsov trade to the Carolina Hurricanes last season. The Columbus Blue Jackets remain in a holding pattern with Laine because he is still in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and can't be traded until he is released. Provided the NHL gains clarity on Laine's playing status before the coming season, the Capitals should be in the mix to try to acquire him, especially with the $3.9 million gained with Kuznetsov's contract termination, a mutual agreement made between the player and the Hurricanes.
The Capitals retained 50 percent of Kuznetsov's $7.8 million average annual value when they traded him to the Hurricanes, so the contract termination is big news for them and their salary cap situation. It basically gives them the ability to acquire another impact player. Backstrom will go on LTIR. It's not a given that T.J. Oshie will as well, but if that happens and it's for the entire season, it's another $5.75 million available to them. We may not know that until well into training camp.
They've already added Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane. Both should be in the top-six mix. There's ample cap space now to add to that group whether it's someone like Laine through a trade with the Blue Jackets or another forward via a trade. The free agent market doesn't house anybody of that ilk anymore.
What do you think Jeremy Swayman's next contract is going to look like? Who are the comps? -- @rayguarino
Swayman could realistically get north of $9 million per season depending on the length of his contract with the Boston Bruins. The goalie is a restricted free agent, but the Bruins are holding enough salary cap space to get him signed. It's hard to find a comparable because of Swayman's age. He's 25 and already quite accomplished with 79 wins, a 2.34 goals-against average, .919 save percentage and 12 shutouts in 132 NHL games. He played an NHL career-high 44 games last season and was one of the top goalies in the League with 25 wins, a 2.53 GAA, .916 save percentage and three shutouts.
Swayman's situation is different than most as an unquestioned (now that Boston traded Linus Ullmark) No. 1 as an RFA. Juuse Saros is four years older, he signed an eight-year, $61.92 million contract ($7.74 million AAV) with the Nashville Predators on July 1 and was one year away from unrestricted free agency. Connor Hellebuyck's seven-year, $59.5 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets ($8.5 million AAV) was signed before last season, when he was 30 and one year away from becoming an unrestricted free agent. Thatcher Demko was 25 and a pending RFA when he signed his five-year, $25 million contract ($5 million AAV) with the Vancouver Canucks on March 31, 2021, but he wasn't nearly as accomplished as Swayman at the same age. Demko only had 30 wins and 62 NHL starts at the time he signed. Andrei Vasilevskiy had just turned 25 when he signed his eight-year, $76 million contract ($9.5 million) with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 29, 2019. Thought not yet a Stanley Cup champion, he was the 2019 Vezina Trophy winner. That was also before the salary cap flattened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cap is rising again, which benefits Swayman.
If Swayman wants an eight-year contract, the number possibly could dip below $9 million because the term creates added value over the years, but it's still reasonable to think it starts with a nine. And if he wants a five- or six-year contract, it could absolutely jump to north of $9 million per season, perhaps in the $10 million AAV range. He is already one of the top goalies in the NHL and arguably just now entering the best window of his career, the prime years.
What are the odds the New York Rangers and Igor Shesterkin can't come to an agreement on a new contract, and he is traded? Seems he'll want way too much money and term? -- @joe_kinloch
Oh boy. There are no odds of this happening. It's not going to happen. Or, to soften that stance, it would be shocking if it happens. The Rangers will come to an agreement with Shesterkin on a contract that will begin at the start of the 2025-26 season. He still has one year remaining on his current contract. The goalie is New York's best and most important player. He's 28 years old. He's arguably the best goalie in the NHL. He has played only 213 regular-season NHL games. He has miles to go in his prime years. He knows it. The Rangers know it. He will be paid as such, and he will deserve it. He will not want way too much money and term. He will want what the market dictates, and for him it's a lot.
When he signs his next contract, Shesterkin likely will be the highest-paid goalie in the NHL. He might be waiting on Swayman to sign so he knows those terms and the AAV. Shesterkin is a more accomplished goalie than Swayman and will want to beat the terms and AAV the Bruins goalie gets. There is no rush. Shesterkin has one year left on his contract. Ideally, the Rangers get a deal done with him before the season opens, just so there are no questions about his future, but if that doesn't happen, it doesn't mean panic will set in. There's time for the Rangers and Shesterkin to get this done.
Will the Nashville Predators win the Stanley Cup this year? -- @ed1167083460363
Too early to say. We still need to see where everything falls coming out of training camp. Player movement. Trades. Injuries. It all factors into favorites but the Predators are on the map as a potential Cup favorite based on their offseason with the additions of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. I'm not ready to make a Stanley Cup prediction in July, though.
