{"id":420195,"date":"2026-01-21T18:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/420195\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T18:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:31:15","slug":"what-kind-of-impact-would-vincent-trocheck-make-on-the-wild-minnesota-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/420195\/","title":{"rendered":"What Kind Of Impact Would Vincent Trocheck Make On the Wild? – Minnesota Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe Minnesota Wild are expressing interest<\/a> in hard-nosed, two-way New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck<\/a>.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tLast summer, I wrote about<\/a> Trocheck being a good fit for the Wild. Now it looks like general manager Bill Guerin<\/a> wants to trade for him.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tLet’s face it, the Wild aren’t getting a franchise center anytime soon. They could target Elias Pettersson<\/a>, but he isn’t on good terms<\/a> with former teammate\u00a0Quinn Hughes<\/a>. Not to mention, he has injury issues<\/a> and experienced a drop in production.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHughes demanded a trade<\/a> because of Vancouver\u2019s toxic culture, allowing the Guerin to add the league\u2019s second-best center. Let’s enjoy the fact that the Wild have two top-5 players<\/a> in Kirill Kaprizov<\/a> and Hughes. Matt Boldy<\/a>\u2019s arguably<\/a> already a top-10 winger. Brock Faber<\/a>\u2019s one of the league\u2019s best defensemen under 24.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFor now, the Wild have their own Mount Rushmore in Kaprizov (George Washington), Hughes (Abraham Lincoln), Boldy (Theodore Roosevelt), and Faber (Thomas Jefferson):\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tKaprizov:\u00a0The founder who drives the Wild\u2019s offense and identity.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHughes: The modernizer who defines the future of elite defense.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFaber: The architect who provides structure and reliability.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBoldy: The stabilizer who brings an all-around game and scoring.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThese players are the team’s cornerstones. While Faber isn’t on the tier of Kaprizov, Hughes, and Boldy, he’s the team’s future captain. Once captain Jared Spurgeon<\/a> retires, Faber will most likely be the next captain. He fits the profile to be Spurgeon’s successor as captain. He has a bit more offensive upside than Spurgeon, so he gets to join the Wild\u2019s Rushmore.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMinnesota\u2019s core needs a top faceoff center for all situations, who can contribute offensively and play well defensively. Trocheck checks all the boxes, including being a playoff performer. Can he be an unsung hero to help defensive anchor Joel Eriksson Ek<\/a>?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTrocheck by the numbers<\/a> (all-situations)\n<\/p>\n

\n\t29th in NHL in hits (115)\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of Tom Wilson<\/a>, Brayden Schenn<\/a>, Casey Cizikas<\/a>, Brandon Duhaime<\/a>, Sam Bennett<\/a>, Dylan Holloway<\/a>, Alex Ovechkin<\/a>, J.T. Miller<\/a>, Boldy, Matt Rempe<\/a>, Eriksson Ek, Brett Howden<\/a>, Nick Foligno<\/a>, and Gabriel Landeskog<\/a>.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTrocheck\u2019s physicality highlights that his lack of size isn’t an issue. He’s active physically, a forechecker who isn’t afraid to mix it up.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTrocheck plays with an edge like Ryan Hartman<\/a>. Still, he\u2019s more disciplined<\/a>, can win faceoffs, and is more skilled with the puck. Adding Trocheck moves Hartman to a permanent bottom-six role as a center or wing.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tT-78th in goals above expected (2.4)\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of Connor McDavid<\/a>, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins<\/a>, Nikita Kucherov<\/a>, Mika Zibanejad<\/a>, David Pastrnak<\/a>, Sam Reinhart<\/a>, Pavel Dorofeyev<\/a>, Mitch Marner<\/a>, Kevin Fiala<\/a>, Mikko Rantanen<\/a>, and Patrick Kane<\/a>.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNobody’s saying that Trocheck is a better center than McDavid. You’d take Kucherov, Pastrnak, Reinhart, Marner, Fiala, or Rantanen over Trocheck regardless of position. You’d also easily pick Kane’s career over Trocheck’s. Trochek has shown to be someone who’s going to perform better than expected. It doesn’t necessarily mean he’s as good as the league’s elites, but he can match up with them as a pest with clutch offense.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t106th in assists per 60 (1.47)\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of Bennett, Ovechkin, Eriksson Ek, Boldy, Reinhart, Mason McTavish<\/a>, Dylan Guenther<\/a>, Miller, Quinton Byfield<\/a>, Filip Forsberg<\/a>, Pettersson, Dylan Larkin<\/a>, Seth Jarvis<\/a>, Jordan Kyrou<\/a>, and Fiala.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTrocheck’s strengths will come through playmaking. He’s shown to produce more A\/60 than Ovechkin, Boldy, Reinhart, Byfield, Pettersson, Jarvis, and Fiala. That shows that he’s capable of being Kaprizov\u2019s playmaking center. Think of Mats Zuccarello<\/a> (5-foot-8) as a center, but Trochek (5-foot-11) is three inches taller. Trocheck also brings more edge than Zuccarello.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t116th in points per 60 (2.37)\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of J.J. Peterka, Mathew Barzal<\/a>, Tyler Seguin<\/a>, McTavish, Fiala, Pettersson, Kyrou, Byfield, Andrei Kuzmenko<\/a>, Matt Duchene<\/a>, and Pavel Buchnevich<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTrocheck doesn\u2019t have elite point production, but you can count on him to produce with some pretty good company. Trocheck is still a better top-six producer than Fiala, Pettersson, and Byfield, who aren’t playing their best hockey this year. That shows that he can take his game to the next level in the playoffs.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tT-74th in blocked shots (29)\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of Anthony Cirelli<\/a>, Macklin Celebrini<\/a>, Tage Thompson<\/a>, Jake Guentzel<\/a>, Sean Couturier<\/a>, Reinhart, Larkin, Jordan Staal<\/a>, Adam Lowry<\/a>, Nathan MacKinnon<\/a>, Jack Eichel<\/a>, McTavish, Byfield, Rantanen, Alex DeBrincat<\/a>, and Lucas Raymond<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHere’s where Trocheck is showing his value as a two-way center. He’s shown to be more reliable defensively than Celebrini, Thompson, Reinhart, Larkin, Staal, MacKinnon, and Eichel.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat shows that he should be the starting center on the penalty kill. Trocheck’s faceoff percentage (FO%) is 55.6, which is tied for 62nd in the league. However, those are for all forward positions. For centers, he’s 39th in the league. He’s over 55,% which is a difficult number to maintain.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tKnown for playoff redemption\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTrocheck has proven he can redeem himself by scoring in the playoffs. He had 10 points in 14 games in the 2021-22 playoffs. In the two seasons before that (2019-20 and 2020-21), he struggled, scoring only 5 points. He bounced back in the 2023-24 playoffs with a big performance by scoring 20 points in 16 games. That was a huge improvement from the 2022-23 playoffs, in which he had just one point in seven games.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tDanila Yurov<\/a> vs. Charlie Stramel: Who does Guerin trade?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Wild might use<\/a> Yurov or Stramel as a centerpiece in a Trocheck trade. The Wild would have to consider parting ways with another first-round pick. Trocheck’s cap hit is $5.625 million, and the Wild have more than $5.3 million in projected deadline cap space. So they don’t need to sacrifice depth.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tYurov is skilled, versatile, and will likely become Kaprizov\u2019s linemate long-term. He can play center or wing and brings offensive upside that is harder to replace. Think of Vegas Golden Knights\u2019 forward Pavel Dorofeyev.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tStramel is big, physical, and strong defensively, like Eriksson Ek. He’s developing into Eriksson Ek’s clone. Players like Boone Jenner<\/a>, Scott Laughton<\/a>, or former Wild center Charlie Coyle<\/a> could fill that role. Still, they would cost money and term to back up Eriksson Ek.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTrade\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTo New York: Charlie Stramel and 2028 1st round pick\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTo Minnesota: Vincent Trocheck\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tPlayoff lines\n<\/p>\n

\n\tForwards\n<\/p>\n

\n\tDefensemen\n<\/p>\n

\n\tGoalies\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOR\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tForwards\n<\/p>\n

\t\tZuccarello – Trocheck – Kaprizov\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tBoldy – Eriksson Ek – Johansson\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tTarasenko – Yurov – Trenin\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tFoligno – Sturm – Hartman<\/p>\n

\n\tDefensemen\n<\/p>\n

\t\tHughes – Faber\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tBrodin – Bogosian\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tMiddleton – Spurgeon<\/p>\n

\t\tHunt<\/p>\n

\n\tGoalies\n<\/p>\n

\n\tPower play\n<\/p>\n

\t\tPP1: Zuccarello – Eriksson Ek – Kaprizov;\u00a0Boldy – Hughes\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tPP2: Hartman – Yurov – Tarasenko;\u00a0Trochek – Faber\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tPenalty kill\n<\/p>\n

\t\tPK1: Trocheck – Trenin;\u00a0Brodin – Faber\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tPK2: Sturm – Foligno;\u00a0Middleton – Spurgeon<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat about Ryan O’Reilly<\/a>?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTrocheck is a smaller, cheaper version<\/a> of O\u2019Reilly who offers strong leadership. He plays hard, excels on both ends, and can be trusted in important moments. Trocheck wins faceoffs, plays physical for his size, and helps score while still doing the small things right. A Trocheck-Kaprizov pairing would be similar to the O\u2019Reilly-Tarasenko duo during the St. Louis Blues\u2019 2019 Stanley Cup run, where a strong two-way center helped unlock an elite goal scorer.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSo how much can Trocheck help the Wild? A lot. He won\u2019t turn them into a dynasty, but he raises their ceiling. Trocheck brings edge, accountability, and playoff edge, which are traits the Wild have been missing when games get tougher. He wins faceoffs, hits, blocks shots, and still finds a way to score. That matters in April.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTrocheck fits this core perfectly. Kaprizov gets a center who can take hits and keep plays alive. Eriksson Ek finally gets help instead of carrying the load alone. While Kaprizov, Hughes, Boldy, and Faber drive the team, Trocheck is the glue that makes it all work, much like how Eriksson Ek is the team’s glue guy. They need another player like him.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Wild shouldn\u2019t be chasing a superstar. They already did that by trading for Hughes. They need to win playoff games. Trocheck plays angry, smart, and delivers when it counts. If the Rangers make him available, then the Wild shouldn\u2019t hesitate. Trocheck doesn\u2019t just help the Wild, but he makes them a better playoff threat, especially against the Colorado Avalanche.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Minnesota Wild are expressing interest in hard-nosed, two-way New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck.\u00a0 Last summer, I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5118],"tags":[5,161,38,5280,4,3042,162],"class_list":{"0":"post-420195","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-wild","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-wild","11":"tag-minnesotawild","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-vincent-trocheck","14":"tag-wild"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}