Rangers set monster asking price for Vincent Trocheck trade

The New York Rangers have set their asking price for Vincent Trocheck, and it's not cheap for a team that finished 29th in the league.

Pierre LeBrun reported Thursday morning that New York is looking for a first-round pick and a prospect in return for the 32-year-old center.

That price tag deserves a second look. Trocheck posted 53 points in 67 games this season, solid production, but he went -16 and the Rangers finished with a 34-39-9 record ranked last in the Metropolitan Division.

He also has just 2 power play goals on the season. His real value has come on the penalty kill, where he chipped in 2 shorthanded goals, and through secondary offense.

His $5.625 million cap hit runs through next season. A team trading into that contract plus surrendering a first-round pick had better be getting more than a 53-point center with a -16 rating.

So who's actually paying that price?

Chris Drury isn't exactly holding a lottery ticket here. The Rangers are coming off a brutal year, and the front office has some real decisions to make around the salary structure.

NYR cap mess makes Trocheck trade harder to pull off

Igor Shesterkin carries $11.5 million. Adam Fox is at $9.5 million. That's $21 million tied up in two players on a team that allowed 250 goals and finished 12 games under .500.

J.T. Miller went -30 this season. Mika Zibanejad went -20. Trocheck at -16 almost looks respectable by comparison, which says something ugly about this roster's defensive structure overall.

Drury has to move some pieces this offseason. Trocheck is a reasonable trade chip because of his age, his contract, and his familiarity with a second-line center role. But demanding a first and a prospect for a guy who played 15 fewer games than a full season is a stretch.

Teams around the league have seen this roster's results. The leverage isn't there the way New York seems to think it is.