Getty Jacob Trouba, New York Rangers
During the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba took “playing hurt” to a whole new level.
Trouba, who missed four weeks in March with a lower-body injury, revealed the full extent of that injury when speaking with reporters during locker clean-out day at the team’s practice facility on June 4.
As first reported by New York Post’s Mollie Walker, Trouba played the entire postseason on a broken ankle. Walker initially quoted the defenseman as saying “a big chunk of his ankle came off,” and Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today followed up with a post on X several hours later, relaying the full quote from Trouba so as to “avoid any misinterpretation:”
“That was tough. I broke my ankle. They said a kidney-sized bean chunk of my ankle came off, but it was not a weight-bearing bone, so I could walk. You feel fine, but then you put a skate on and you start pushing at different angles, and it does not feel good. That was tough because you feel fine, you want to be out there, but you’re definitely limited by that. It got better as it went on… It’s not an excuse or anything by any means. I was ready to play, but it was an interesting one to play with.”
Although he claims the injury did not impact his play, Trouba’s postseason performance left much to be desired. The 30-year-old defenseman totaled just 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists) through 16 playoff games.
Other Injury Revelations from Rangers’ Clean-Out Day
Trouba was not the only Rangers defenseman battling injuries, as New York’s blue line took a beating during the playoffs.
Star defenseman Adam Fox, who totaled 8 assists in 16 playoff games, revealed that he re-injured his knee during the first round of the playoffs. However, like Trouba, Fox wasn’t willing to use his injury as an excuse.
“I was able to play,” Fox told reporters during exit interviews. “Once you’re out there, you’re expected to perform. So, I’m not going to sit here and say I was hurt or anything like that. When you’re on the ice, there’s an expectation to perform. I think that’s the goal.”
Adam Fox says that he re-aggravated his knee injury from earlier in the season in the first round:
Defenseman Ryan Lindgren also revealed on clean-out day that he had suffered cracked a rib during the second round. Despite missing a couple of practices leading up to the Eastern Conference Final due to “maintenance” issues, Lindgren did play in all six games against the Panthers. The 26-year-old defenseman recorded 3 assists while averaging 20:06 minutes of ice time in 16 playoff appearances.
Trouba: Rangers’ Eastern Conference Final Loss ‘Hurts More’
The Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy with the NHL’s best regular-season record and steamrolled their way through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, sweeping the Washington Capitals and eliminating the Carolina Hurricanes in six games. But they had no answers for the Florida Panthers, who knocked them off in six games during the Eastern Conference Final to advance to their second straight Stanley Cup Final and will face the Edmonton Oilers.
“It hurts more,” Trouba said during his media availability, according to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. “The closer you get, the more it stings, the more there’s that pit in your stomach. The belief was there. It wasn’t hope. We weren’t going to the playoffs hoping to compete or be good. There’s a belief that we can win. When you have that belief, it makes it hurt more.”
“We feel like we’re right there.”
Jacob Trouba was asked if he believes the Rangers have the pieces to win a Stanley Cup as currently constituted:
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette echoed Trouba’s sentiments, saying there was a belief within the organization that this would be the year that New York would win first Stanley Cup since 1994.
“If I’m being honest, I think there was a belief built during the course of the season – not just with our players, but with the organization and the fan base,” Laviolette said during his June 4 media availability. “We truly believed we were going to win the Stanley Cup. And so with that comes a lot of disappointment. A lot of hurt. We didn’t accomplish what we wanted to accomplish.”