Auston Matthews knows he needs firepower to get back to a dominant level, and Vincent Trocheck is the perfect piece to give him the playmaker that he needs.
Auston Matthews and Vincent Trocheck won gold together at the Olympics and now they could reunite if he's being made available in trade talks this summer, at under $6-million for three more seasons he can help stabilize the top-six with Matthews already knowing what he's bringing to the table.
Trocheck, 32, has been one of the most consistent two-way players that brings a steady dose of offensive potential while also being an elite defender. His possession numbers have always been above average and for a team starved for elite two-way play - Trocheck fits the bill.
Vincent Trocheck brings the Maple Leafs the elite two-way play they missed so much in 2025-26
He's averaged 48.5 points for his career while also adding a ton of physicality with 141 hits on average for his career. If Matthews needs someone willing to go into the weeds for him, Trocheck is a great fit.
His career Corsi percentage is 58.9 which means his team controls the puck nearly 60% of the time he's on the ice. If there's someone you can rely on to give you 50-60 points in addition to fantastic defence, Trocheck is your guy, and he also has that winning pedigree having won a gold medal in 2026.
Matthews was also part of that gold medal squad and he knows better than anyone the type of player Trocheck is and what he can bring to the table, and with the Rangers looking to make a swath of changes this year, he could be in play.
He saw Trocheck go perfect on the penalty kill (18 for 18) and knows that if there's someone who can help with the transition game and prevent Toronto getting trapped in their own end, it's the current Rangers forward.
The Rangers already dealt away long-time players like Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba, and don't seem shy about shaking things up in the Big Apple, but what can Toronto offer them to satisfy their needs?
Toronto has to go quantity over quality when trying to acquire Trocheck
Well it might be a deal that has to do with volume more than anything else. Toronto can't afford to trade a top prospect or a high pick for him, but can certainly afford to give the Rangers some hope for the future.
Nick Robertson can instantly slot into the top-six as a proven scoring winger who needs a fresh start and he could be seen as a buy-low target for the Rangers and given he's an RFA he would have a lot of control and for cheap too.
Tack on someone like Jacob Quillan or Luke Haymes as an up-and-coming two-way piece, and considering that Toronto may have a logjam up front this October with free agent signings and trades; not to mention Gavin McKenna.
Toronto also has a surplus of goaltenders, and with the news that the team really sees something special in Artur Akhtyamov, they can afford to trade one away. Dennis Hildeby is the likeliest candidate and given Toronto can lose him off waivers if they aren't careful, packaging him for someone like Trocheck is the only alternative.
All those players are cheap, young, and fit a rebuilding timeline for the Rangers, meanwhile they get off Trocheck's contract ($5.6-million) and the Maple Leafs get a chance to actually complement their lineup with a piece desperately needed.
Do you think Vincent Trocheck is the right choice for the Maple Leafs?
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