For weeks, Vincent Trocheck spoke like a player who was prepared to be traded.
He shared his preferences for a destination that his 12-team no-trade list afforded him.
He opened up about the impact it had on his family, most notably 7-year-old son Leo’s wholesome reaction to the possibility of his father getting traded that tugged at hockey fans’ heart strings.
Yet there was Trocheck on Saturday afternoon wearing red, white and blue, skating in his usual second-line center post as the Rangers lost, 6-3, to the Devils at Prudential Center.
The chances of him being in another team’s lineup that day had been high before Friday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline came and went without an offer that satisfied general manager Chris Drury.
“He’s been terrific,” coach Mike Sullivan said of how he saw Trocheck navigate the last few weeks. “He’s such a good pro. He’s a great person, he’s a great leader, and he’s a terrific hockey player. I think he’s done a really good job under difficult circumstances, just trying to navigate through it. I always use the word ‘compartmentalize’ it and try to go out and play when the puck drops, and that’s when he’s at his best. I think, moving forward, there’s a lot of unknowns. And so, right now, Troch is a New York Ranger, and we’re thrilled to have him.”
If Saturday’s game meant anything to either team, it would’ve been considered a riveting, back-and-forth contest.
Alas, the two clubs were stacked atop one another in the basement of the Metropolitan Division entering their first meeting of the season.
Both teams severely underperformed in recent months and are far out of the playoff picture.
The Battle of the Hudson moniker doesn’t really apply when neither team is battling for anything.
Saturday may have been meaningless, but it was a competitive affair nonetheless in a game featuring a Jack Hughes hat trick against his Team USA bench boss Sullivan.
Nico Hischier broke a 3-3 tie just over eight minutes into the third period, when the Devils captain converted on his team’s third straight power play after following up on a rebound.
The special teams game heavily swung in New Jersey’s favor.
After giving up another goal less than two minutes into the start of a game, when Jesper Bratt scored 1:06 after puck drop, the Rangers got a couple of goals from their defensemen.
Will Borgen notched the first before Vladislav Gavrikov recorded his 12th goal of the season, doubling his previous career high.
The Devils had only capitalized on one of their previous 26 power plays, but they went a perfect 3-for-3 against the Rangers.
With 12.4 seconds left in the first period, Dawson Mercer scored first with the man advantage to tie it up 2-2.
Hughes later cashed in on the power play in the second period, one of his three goals on the day.
It only lasted for just over a minute, however, as Will Cuylle notched his third goal in the last two games.
Hischier then scored his team-leading seventh power-play goal to give the Devils a 3-2 lead.