Vincent Trocheck reveals terrifying Rangers health scare: ‘Thought I was dying’
Landing on the trade block was far from the most troublesome part of Vincent Trocheck’s season.
The Rangers center revealed Friday that his 14-game absence at the start of the season was due to a bacterial infection in his lung. He had to undergo surgery and spend a week in the hospital hooked up to chest tubes.
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“I thought I was just having back spasms, and then I played the first game,” Trocheck explained. “Got a little bit worse. Played in Buffalo. I got a cross check right in that area, and whatever fluid was in there, it’s like bubbles, and I guess the bubble burst and it spread. So then it just got a lot worse. I had a lot of fluid around my lung, so I had to have surgery to get the fluid removed.
“It was very scary. I thought I was dying.”
While it didn’t take long for Trocheck to feel normal again health-wise, the next ordeal was just around the corner.
President and general manager Chris Drury announced his retooling plans and immediately conveyed his intentions to explore trade options to certain players. As a center in a depleted market for the position, Trocheck knew he was an obvious trade chip and began his preparations.
The 32-year-old broke the news to his young children. He spoke about the situation like a player who already had his bags packed.
And yet, when the clock struck 3 p.m. on the March 6 trade deadline, Trocheck was still a Ranger.
Drury held firm on his asking price for Trocheck, who heads into the offseason without any expectations for what’s to come next.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.
Asked if he has a preference one way or the other, Trocheck remained diplomatic.
“I have to talk to my family about it,” No. 16 said. “Try to see where we’re headed as a team and try to figure something out. I don’t know exactly right now.”
Fresh off his fifth straight 50-point campaign, Trocheck’s $5.625 million cap hit over the next three seasons will look like a complete steal as the cap increases. In February, he won a gold medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics in a niche penalty-killing role that showcased the strength of his situational play.
With his no-trade list shrinking from 12 teams to 10 this summer, Trocheck is one of the few moveable Rangers for whom the organization can drive a hard bargain.
The belief is the Blueshirts are looking for at least one NHL-ready player to be part of the return.
“Well, I think if you look at it, it’s kind of two different cycles in the season, right?” Drury said when asked if he plans to be more aggressive in getting a Trocheck deal done or reevaluating. “The trade deadline, there’s limited buyers, there’s a limited cap space. It’s not the offseason. The rosters aren’t being reshuffled and retooled across the league.
“So going into the offseason, we’re going to review and take a look at everything within the roster, within the organization. We’re always going to try to make the best moves we can for the short-term and long-term health of the organization.”
