Story by
New York Rangers report cards: Grading trade candidates Trocheck, Schneider
- Story by
- New York Rangers report cards: Grading trade candidates Trocheck, Schneider
Vincent Trocheck and Braden Schneider head into this offseason with one thing most definitely in common: their future with the New York Rangers is uncertain.
That doesn't guarantee both or either will be traded. But with limited tradeable options on the roster, the Rangers have explored — and will continue to do so — moving one or both this summer as part of Chris Drury's stated retool.
Advertisement
Let's take a closer look at how each performed in 2025-26, with our latest end-of-season report cards.
Vincent Trocheck: B-
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Trocheck's season started with him trying to play through an undiagnosed viral infection, then missing 14 games and thinking "I was dying" because of said infection. Later on, he prepared himself and his family for an unwanted in-season move, but Drury instead held on to Trocheck at the NHL Trade Deadline because the offers from others teams didn't meet the asking price to part with a such a respected veteran. That was a lot for Trocheck to deal with, but he still managed to piece together a competitive season. The 32-year-old tied for fourth on the Rangers with 53 points (16 goals, 37 assists), and remained a key cog on New York's strong specialty teams units. He was second on the team in hits (193), won 56.9 percent of his face-offs, and logged an average of 20:33 TOI. But like the rest of this last-place team , his overall game just seemed to be a bit off most of the season. Trocheck had four goal-scoring droughts of at least eight games, saw his expected goal share drop to 45.52 percent, per Natural Stat Trick , and he became a more muted version of himself off the ice, at least in terms of dealing with the media, after the trade deadline passed. No doubt his biggest highlight didn't occur wearing the Blueshirt, but instead was in February when he helped the United States win gold at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
Advertisement
Braden Schneider: C-
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Rangers took the training wheels off Schneider this season, but the results weren't what they hoped. The 24-year-old defenseman was given more ice time and responsibility early in the season by coach Mike Sullivan , and that went OK since he mostly played on the third pair. But when tasked with replacing the injured Adam Fox on the top defense pairing alongside Vladislav Gavrikov , Schnieder and the Rangers crumbled. Schneider struggled in that role, though righted himself down the stretch after Fox returned from his second injury, a lower-body one which followed an upper-body issue. Overall, though, Schneider's xGF 5v5 was an unsightly 43.26 percent, and his offensive production flatlined (18 points; two goals, 16 assists) despite a major bump in minutes, which included power-play opportunities. More concerning was that his defensive structure too often was an issue. On the bright side, he played all 82 games after offseason shoulder surgery, led the Rangers with 140 blocked shots, topped Blueshirts defensemen with 143 hits, averaged a career-high 20:27 TOI, and continued to emerge as a respected stand-up leader. Still, this season felt like an overall disappointment for Schneider.
Related Headlines
Advertisement
