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Why Rangers’ Noah Laba could fill center void after Vincent Trocheck trade
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- Why Rangers’ Noah Laba could fill center void after Vincent Trocheck trade
With Vincent Trocheck finally traded , the New York Rangers need a two-way center with snarl, scoring ability, an outstanding 200-foot game, and leadership qualities.
While replacing all of that sounds like a tall order, the guy who can do at least some of it might already be on their roster in the person of second-year pro Noah Laba .
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Trading Trocheck on July 1 to the Utah Mammoth for defenseman Sean Durzi , center prospect Cole Beaudoin and a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft was a long time coming. Initially expected to be traded before last season's deadline in March, the Rangers instead held onto the 33-year-old in hopes of obtaining a better return this summer.
While the Blueshirts deemed it necessary to trade Trocheck as they work to "retool" the roster with younger players, the club must now find a way to supplant all that the gritty veteran brought for four seasons. Laba may not be a clone of Trocheck – but his rookie season provided some encouraging evidence that he might approximate Trocheck some day, perhaps as soon as next season.
Noah Laba 's game resembles that of Vincent Trocheck with Rangers
Danny Wild-Imagn ImagesCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Laba, after all, was a rare recent revelation for the organization in the area of player development last season – and a later-round find, to boot. The fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, 111th overall, won a job out of training camp last year and established himself as a lineup mainstay, playing 74 games despite missing time with three separate injuries.
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Coach Mike Sullivan quickly grew to trust Laba and installed him as the third-line center. With his size (6-foot-3, 214 pounds), speed, relentless puck-hounding, defensive prowess, strength at the face-off dot (50.8 percent win rate) and jagged on-ice persona, there's a lot to like for the Rangers coach. Sullivan soon elevated Laba to a primary penalty-killing role, and as the season wore on, the rookie was rewarded with power-play time on the second unit, scoring three goals and recording two assists with the man advantage.
Remind you of anyone?
It's true that Laba has a long way to go to equal Trocheck's offensive output. Trocheck twice reached the 70-point mark, most recently with a career-high 77 points for the Rangers in 2023-24. He eclipsed the 50-point threshold eight total times, and scored 20 or more goals seven times, in 13 NHL seasons.
Laba recorded nine goals and 15 assists last season, and finished 10th on the Rangers with 24 points, doing so while averaging just 13:28 TOI. With his high motor, serious speed, and straight-ahead game that's always pointed at the net front, Laba should, in theory, generate plenty of high-percentage scoring chances as he continues to develop.
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The Michigan native scored 20 goals and totaled 37 points in 36 games with Colorado College in 2023-24, and followed that up with 26 points in 29 games for the Tigers the next season. He had three goals and two assists in 11 contests for Hartford of the AHL in 2024-25 as well.
The point being: Laba possesses offensive instincts which can continue to emerge. He might never score as much as Trocheck did, but if he can develop into at least a perennial 40-point player, the Rangers will take it.
"I think my first priority is just becoming a better shooter," Laba said at the team's breakup day in April. "Getting the stick skills improved, and just trying to become a better offensive player. Be better in the O-zone, produce more. So I think that's my main priority, and I'm excited to kind of get to work this summer to try to get my game there."
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Could Laba be more than just a third-liner? Perhaps. Trocheck, like Laba, didn't enter the NHL with a high draft pedigree – he was a third-round pick, 64th overall, by the Florida Panthers in 2011. Trocheck opened that organization's eyes to his potential with some big offensive numbers during his five junior seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. While it's important to note that gaudy stats in junior don't necessarily translate to the NHL, Trocheck also flashed in the minors before limited production over his initial NHL call-ups.
Still, Trocheck's determination, versatile package of skills and scoring allowed him to grow from mid-range prospect into legitimate second-line center, a role he's occupied for much of his career. He broke out with 25 goals and 53 points over 76 games with the Panthers in 2015-16 at age 22.
Even if Laba ends up simply reprising his role of last season, though, the Rangers might not miss Trocheck as much as expected in 2026-27 and beyond. Had he not been traded, Trocheck was likely ticketed for the third-line center spot, killing penalties, handling key defensive matchups with opponents' top-six forwards and receiving power-play time. With Mika Zibanejad and close friend and fellow Pittsburgh native J.T. Miller ahead of him on the depth chart, the Rangers would have paid Trocheck $5.6 million on the salary cap to handle third-line duties.
However, it can't be underestimated how much the Rangers will miss Trocheck. He did average 21 minutes TOI over four seasons with the Rangers, led them in postseason scoring with 20 points in 16 games in 2024 when they reached the Eastern Conference Final, and played in the NHL All-Star Game in 2024.
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Plus, with Trocheck on the roster, Sullivan had a center to move up in the lineup, if he decided Miller could or should play on the wing, or if either Miller or Zibanejad was hurt. That safety net is gone.
Rangers need Noah Laba to take big next step in production
Blake Dahlin-Imagn ImagesCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Laba probably won't produce nearly as much offense as Trocheck does next season, and the club can't expect him to assume the leadership role the much more experienced Trocheck held during his time in New York yet. However, at a fraction of the cost – Laba comes with a $945,000 cap hit for 2026-27 – the Blueshirts should end up getting many of the intangibles that Trocheck brought. Those qualities are highly sought after and not easy to replace, a big reason why Trocheck was in demand around the League, both ahead of last season's trade deadline and again this summer.
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If the Rangers – a team that consistently suffers from a shortage of what both Laba and Trocheck bring – have at least a reasonable facsimile for Trocheck in Laba, it means that the soon-to-be 23-year-old's value increases significantly in the final year of his entry-level contract.
In the near term, the Blueshirts should be encouraged about the prospect of consistently pairing Laba on the third line with left wing Will Cuylle , another young player that developed successfully into a two-time 20-goal scorer and key middle-six forward – one who plays a straight-ahead style similar to Laba's. The duo played 230:54 together at 5-on-5 last season and posted a 54.3 expected goal share, per Natural Stat Trick , with the Rangers out-chancing opponents 103-87. It stands to reason that more time together should only increase their effectiveness and production.
In the long run, the Rangers hope Laba unlocks another level of offensive production, which could allow him to eventually move into the top six when needed. If he can, the hole left by the departure of the best free-agent signing of general manager Chris Drury's tenure might not loom so large for a team in transition that's trying to return to contention at the same time.
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