Rangers threaten to strip Jacob Trouba of his captaincy mid-season

As team insider Arthur Staples reports, the New York Rangers have fallen apart recently and changes are expecting to come whether the players like it or not.

In his recent piece in the Athletic, Staples begins to wonder if Jacob Trouba could be the one targeted next as the Rangers could choose to strip him of his captaincy mid-season.

“So what’s next? Do you strip Trouba of the C? Put him or someone else on waivers? All that does is further humiliate a core player, one of the reasons the Rangers are in this mess. Is Laviolette next? That would mark three coaching searches for Drury in four years. What about Drury? There’s no indication the president/GM is on the hot seat here, but remember what happened the last time the Rangers lost five in a row.”

That would come on top of the rumours already swirling around the defenseman since last season, after spending the summer dealing with chatter that the Rangers were looking to trade him out of New York.

It all started when the Blue Shirts reportedly attempted to flip Trouba in a deal that was said to be sending him to the Detroit Red Wings, however, the blue liner owns a 15-team no-trade clause and allegedly blocked the move.

There is a feeling that Trouba will be moved this summer as his clause will change again this summer, turning into a 12-team no-trade clause effective next July 1 for the final season of his contract. With Trouba gone, the Rangers would free up space to sign multiple free agents, including star goalie Igor Shesterkin and his backup Jonathan Quick, defensemen K’Andre Miller and Ryan Lindgren, and forwards Reilly Smith, Kaapo Kakko and Will Cuylle. GM Chris Drury can’t afford them all, but if he moves Trouba, he could get enough room for the most important players to keep in the Big Apple.

And so, if the Rangers already know Trouba’s time in NYC is coming to an end, maybe they will in fact start with striping him of his captaincy.