Jacob Trouba trade now seems unlikely due to his wife's career

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Josh Tupper
July 2, 2024 (9:23)

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The Jacob Trouba era in New York was expected to come to an end over the weekend, but according to new reports plans may have changed.

This weekend, Larry Brooks of the New York Post broke the news that trade talks were heating up. It was rumored that Trouba was headed to the Detroit Red Wings, as the Rangers attempted to shed salary ahead of free agency. But that never happened and it was a bit of a mystery as to why.

"Indeed, a well-placed source has told The Post that GM Chris Drury is working on a deal to send the captain to the Red Wings, a trade that the Michigan native would presumably accept after having played as a freshman for the Wolverines in 2012-13.

We are told the Rangers may retain $2.5 million per year on the two remaining seasons of Trouba's $8M annual cap charge. That represents 31.25 percent retention that would also be applied to the $12M in salary Trouba has coming over the next two seasons." Brooks said on the weekend.

On Monday evening, Brooks provider a new report that Chris Drury and the Rangers are now unlikely to trade Jacob Trouba until after the 2025 season because his wife, Kelly, is completing her residency at a New York area hospital. Kelly is unable to transfer her credits to another hospital and for Trouba leaving her in New York, with their six-month-old child, isn't an option for Jacob.

"But Dr. Tyson-Trouba's residency was deferred for a year at the start so that the program which she is required to complete will end instead on July 1, 2025. The Trouba's also welcomed their first child, a boy named Axel, in mid-January.

There is no guarantee that Jacob Trouba would accept a trade even to a club on his approved list if that means leaving his wife and nine-month-old (as of training camp) behind. It is not as if Dr. Tyson-Trouba can pick up, transfer her credits to another hospital, accompany her husband and still be licensed as a physician." Brooks said.

Trouba, 30, has spent the last five seasons with the New York Rangers, including the last two as the team's captain. In 340 career games with the Rangers, Trouba has 130 points (31 goals, 99 assists), 307 penalty minutes and was a plus-19.

Trouba currently holds a 15-team no trade list, but according to reports he could refuse to report if traded to a team on that list.