Rangers Acquire Defenseman Jacob Trouba From Winnipeg
By Adam Godfrey
The NHL offseason is officially upon us, and has already brought along some big storylines with the San Jose Sharks re-signing star defenseman Erik Karlsson.
Monday's flurry of movement didn't stop there, with another big-name defenseman getting dealt as part of a trade ahead of NHL Free Agency.
The Winnipeg Jets agreed to a trade that will send Jacob Trouba to the New York Rangers.
OFFICIAL: #NYR have acquired defenseman Jacob Trouba from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Neal Pionk and the 20th overall pick in the 2019 #NHLDraft (originally from WPG). pic.twitter.com/rZTXYv4YG1
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) June 17, 2019
The Jets traded Trouba to the Big Apple in return for their own first round pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, along with young defenseman Neal Pionk from the Rangers.
New York originally acquired the Jets' first round pick at the trade deadline, when they swapped Kevin Hayes for the pick, a fourth round selection, and Brendan Lemieux.
Jeff Gorton turned an AHL-caliber defenseman and 3 months of Kevin Hayes into Jacob Trouba and Brendan Lemieux.
— Adam Herman (@AdamZHerman) June 17, 2019
I mean, that's A+ GMing right there. It doesn't get any better than that.
Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton has been an absolute genius when dealing with the Jets so far this season. In both trades combined, he sent a pending free agent in Hayes, whose rights were traded to the Flyers for a fourth round pick, Pionk, who is a top six defenseman at best right now, and the Jets' own first round pick back to them, for a quality player in Lemieux and a top tier defenseman in Trouba.
The Rangers should be ecstatic about the swap, as they beefed up their defensive unit and can further upgrade the roster with the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft.