How Jacob Trouba chose Anaheim, and where he fits on Ducks blue line

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- In the summer, Jacob Trouba chose his family. In December, Trouba stuck with his family, and made a new decision: joining the Anaheim Ducks.

After months of speculation on the New York Rangers dealing their captain, leading up to the “threat” of being sent to whichever team chose him off the waiver wire, Trouba exercised the right of the no-trade clause in his contract and a 15-team no-trade list to come to Orange County.

The 30-year-old defenseman was sent to Anaheim in exchange for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick on Friday.

“Obviously, there’s discussions this past summer with my wife and my family,” Trouba said. “Anaheim was one of the teams that we were both very interested in that worked for our lives and both of our careers. It’s a team that I was excited to join. It’s a team that’s on the cusp of taking the next step and being really great.”

It had been reported that Trouba denied a trade to the Detroit Red Wings over the summer in part due to his wife, Dr. Kelly Tyson-Trouba, holding a medical residency at a New York hospital. Trouba had been openly supportive of his wife’s career, and stuck to that support through the season in New York and on Friday’s conference call.

“I’ll be honest. I was put in a position this summer to make a decision between my career and my family, and I mean, I chose my family,” Trouba said. “I would choose my family 100 times over again. I don’t feel bad about that. I was happy about it.”

What resulted was a tough start to the season in New York for the Rangers, both on and off the ice, and for Trouba. The Rangers, the reigning Presidents Trophy winners and pegged Stanley Cup contenders, are just 13-10-1 this season and 1-6-0 in their last seven games.

Trouba has registered just six assists with a -3 rating in 24 games. At five-on-five, he posted a 45.35% shot share and 47.45% expected goals for share, according to Natural Stat Trick.

“I don’t like that it was made public, necessarily, or how everything unfolded so publicly, but I guess that’s part of New York and what happens,” Trouba said. “It made it difficult to play with that hanging over everything. The result is the result, and I’m happy moving forward, but I’m not overly thrilled with how it went down.”

Trouba’s time in New York ended with an ultimatum.

In June, the Rangers had put forward Barclay Goodrow on waivers, with the purpose of his contract being picked up in full by the San Jose Sharks without Goodrow's consent. Trouba said that waivers were “a threat” by the Rangers in their discussions that ultimately came to a head with 24 hours of negotiations and his trade to Anaheim.

“Yesterday morning, it was ‘accept this trade or we’re scratching you.’ I said, ‘okay.’ Then it was ‘accept this trade or you’re going on waivers.’ I said, ‘okay,’” Trouba said. “Then it got to a point where I felt comfortable with Anaheim, and that was the place I wanted to go. I guess you could say I’m thankful they made that happen.”

Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said the deal came together “rather quickly” as Verbeek was able to land his much-coveted right-hand shot.

Where does Trouba fit on the Anaheim blue line?

Moving forward, Trouba joined the Ducks in Montreal for his first practice on Sunday, as they start a four-game East Coast road trip against the Canadiens tonight.

There, Trouba saw a couple of familiar faces in former Rangers teammates Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano–Trouba and Vatrano’s friendship actually goes all the way back to high school–and a young team with plenty of promise.

“It’s kind of a similar situation when I came to New York with the really good young players that are ready to take the next step,” Trouba said. “Anaheim was one of the teams that (my wife and I) were both very interested in that worked for our lives and both of our careers. It’s a team that I was excited to join. It’s a team that’s on the cusp of taking the next step and being really great.”

Anaheim is also a team that was in need of immediate help on the back end and a continued fostering of its stable of young defensemen. However, Trouba’s acquisition is a bit at odds with the latter goal.

On one hand, he is a steady veteran defenseman that brings an edge to his game, and maybe most importantly to Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek, he stabilizes the Ducks defense as right-handed shot.

“When a player of this caliber comes available, I wanted to help our team, and I think he improves our team,” Verbeek said. “Overall, it gives our team a lot more rigid physical play… That is part of how I want us to play. I want us to be really tough to play against, and he certainly adds that element to our group.”

Trouba’s handedness allows the Ducks to even up its three defensive pairs, with captain Radko Gudas and Drew Helleson also being right-handers.

“I didn’t know that when I was a four-year-old learning to play hockey that right-handed was a great thing,” Trouba said. “There’s less of them, or it's a more coveted position, I guess. Just play my style, play my game, be comfortable and confident in how I play.”

However, in evening up the Ducks’ defensive pairs, it seems as if two young Ducks defenseman will be squeezed out of a crowded blueline each night. There are currently eight healthy and capable NHL defensemen for six starting spots.

“We’re going to manage it in a real development manner looking at every single one of our young guys,” Verbeek said. “It’s going to provide some more competition within our group, which is healthy and that’s how you get better."

With Cam Fowler coming off injured reserve, 21-year-old Pavel Mintyukov was the first to get edged from his spot and has been a healthy scratch each of the last two games. Fowler has been paired with Gudas.

Helleson, 23, has come up from AHL San Diego and demonstrated immense poise to solidify a position alongside veteran Brian Dumoulin. 

In recent games, 21-year-old Olen Zellweger and 23-year-old Jackson LaCombe have excelled as a pair, with Zellweger playing his off-side on the right and LaCombe becoming more offensively involved on the left. 

The scratch target may initially be LaCombe, as Zellweger has posted team-high possession numbers among the blue-liners, despite playing the right side as a lefty. 

Despite also being a right-hand shot, Helleson could end up being an odd-man out because he is waiver exempt and could be sent back to San Diego without fear of losing him to the waiver wire. Mintyukov and Zellweger are also waiver exempt.

“It’s at a point where it’s going to get competitive," Verbeek said, "and we’re going to develop and have these guys play hard and compete to be in the lineup every night.”

Verbeek and Ducks coach Greg Cronin are looking for that competition to raise Anaheim’s battle level in the defensive zone and take the pressure off its goaltending, which has been fantastic in the face of high shot totals.

“He’s a guy that can step up on the forecheck and stop plays,” Cronin said. “He can kill plays in the defensive zone. He’s got a heck of a shot and having another right shot back there will help us keep pucks alive on the cycle.”

At five-on-five, the Ducks are third-to-last in the NHL in shot share (45.32%), second-to-last in scoring chance share (43.34%) and last in expected goals share (43.41%).

While Trouba’s numbers were down this season in New York with his trade situation hanging over everything, the former captain had been a steady hand on the Rangers defense.

In the last two seasons at five-on-five, Trouba recorded shot shares of 47.59% and 50.52%, scoring chance shares of 48.63% and 49.93% and expected goals shares of 48.40% and 49.26%. All but one of those percentages would lead Anaheim’s defensemen this season.

“I know from talking to him,” Strome said, “you’re going to have a really highly motivated individual with a little bit of a weight off his shoulders that’s excited to play and a guy that wanted to play in Anaheim. I think those are all positives and things that can jumpstart our group going forward”

Trouba’s impact in the Ducks locker room

The constant repeated by nearly everyone on the Ducks side about what Trouba brings to Anaheim was leadership.

“Just a steady, humble leader,” Strome said of his former and new teammate. “Just tries to do everything right. I think, is willing to go to the tough areas of the game and do the tough things. Fight, hit, block shots, kill penalties, playing the D zone. He’s not looking for any glory.”

Trouba provides another pillar of hard-nosed play and that leadership, alongside Ducks captain Radko Gudas.

“You just don’t become the captain of the New York Rangers and not have excellent qualifications on and off the ice,” said Verbeek, a former Ranger. “I spoke to Radko this morning, and he was excited. I think he’s going to be able to add another layer of leadership to our entire group with a different voice. I think it’s important.”

Moreso to the rest of the Ducks locker room, it represents another step out of the rebuilding process.

Since Verbeek took over in February 2022, Anaheim fully committed to the rebuild and traded away key pieces like Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell and veterans like Adam Henrique to open space for its prospect pipeline, in addition to acquiring more draft picks and prospects.

Now, as the Ducks continue their push back up the NHL, the Trouba trade is another sign of a team looking to turn the corner.

“The last few years have been tough,” Strome said, “like at the deadline, we’ve just lost a lot of really, really veteran guys and really character guys. To see a guy added to the group really means something to the guys in here.”

Anaheim will look to get things back in order on this road trip. The Ducks developed and committed to an identity over a 4-1-1 stretch last month, but Anaheim has now lost four of its last six, with its only win of a four-game homestand coming in the shootout.

“We’ve had some ups and downs,” Strome said, “but all in all, I think we’re starting to see this thing moving in the right direction. I think the room in here feels it, and to add someone like (Trouba) and his character and what he brings to the game and the fear he puts in another team, I think makes our young guys and our skill guys play a little freer and takes some heat off (Gudas) and some of our bigger guys back there.”

Injury updates

Leo Carlsson participated fully at practice in Montreal on Sunday. The 19-year-old Swede has missed the last five games with an upper-body injury. Carlsson skated in a red non-contact jersey during morning skate on Friday.

“Leo is progressing,” Verbeek said on Friday. “We’re hoping he’ll be in the lineup soon, hopefully on this road trip. You just never know with his situation.”

Trevor Zegras will undergo further examination today in Anaheim, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday. Zegras sustained a lower-body injury on an awkward non-contact fall backwards after a face-off against Vegas on Wednesday. 

“We’re still evaluating him, going through that process with our doctors,” Verbeek said. “I’ll probably know more in the coming days here what’s going on with Trevor.”

Zegras missed 51 games last season with two separate lower-body injuries, including a broken ankle.

Robby Fabbri remains on injured reserve but skated again with the team at practice in Montreal. Fabbri has missed 11 games following knee surgery.