Jacob Trouba: “We’re told the Canadiens were interested”.

Yesterday, the Jacob Trouba saga finally came to an end, as the defenseman was traded to the Anaheim Ducks. The Rangers clearly wanted to get rid of their captain, but his partial no-trade clause complicated matters.

There was even talk of placing him on the waivers to try to get around this clause. Not a smart move.

In the end, it was Anaheim, but we know that the Rangers tried to send him to several teams. And obviously, several teams were interested.

And according to Bruce Garrioch (Ottawa Citizen), one of those teams… was the Canadiens.

TVA Sports picked up the story in an article published this afternoon.

“We’re told the Montreal Canadiens are interested in Trouba ” https://t.co/n1K18F1Ftk

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) December 7, 2024

The connection isn’t particularly hard to make: we know that the Habs are looking for reinforcements on the blue line (especially right-handers), they had room on their payroll… and most importantly, Jeff Gorton is in the organization’s hockey department.

Remember that Gorton was at the helm of the Rangers when the club acquired Trouba in 2019.

On the other hand, it was a lose-lose situation for the Canadiens: Trouba wanted absolutely nothing to do with a return to Canada. We know he’s left Winnipeg in the past, and with his wife unable to practice medicine in Canada, he doesn’t want to leave the States.

Our opening night feature on the New York Rangers new captain, Jacob Trouba, his wife, Kelly, and the incredible commitment they made to each other pic.twitter.com/GzVp8MfDjj

– Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) October 11, 2022

That said, it just goes to show that the Canadiens are willing to get creative to solve their blue-line woes. They want to add some reinforcements, and in Trouba, the club would have gotten their hands on an experienced right-hander.

It might have been peculiar in the dressing room with Justin Barron (whom he knocked out earlier this year and would probably have stolen the spot from) and with Josh Anderson (who gave him a beating last Saturday), but hey.

Extension

We’ve known since the start of the season that the Habs would like to add some physical players to their squad.

We agree that Trouba would have been part of the solution… but I wonder if fans would have appreciated the deal. He’s not the most popular player in town, after all.