The Pittsburgh Penguins might look for an opportunity to give their roster a jolt with Sidney Crosby out injured.
Before the trade deadline, a name that has been raised is Vincent Trocheck, the veteran center for the New York Rangers and most notably a gold medalist for Team USA in the recent Olympic triumph.
Trocheck is one of a number of veterans still on the block from the Rangers.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman thinks Trocheck’s Olympics performance only helped his cause.
“In the biggest moments of that gold-medal game, on a five-on-three, he played unbelievable,” Friedman said. “He accepted a role that was not going to be the biggest role, and he did it without complaint. That did not go unnoticed.”
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Trocheck is originally from Pittsburgh. He has three years remaining on his seven-year, $39.4 million contract.
He’s also got 37 points through 44 games this season.
In the Olympics, Trocheck was cast in a gritty role and filled it very well.
Back in the NHL, he can provide a little bit of everything for his team.
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Will it be Pittsburgh?
“I heard some teams said that they suspected Pittsburgh could be around Trocheck,” Friedman writes. “He’s obviously from there. I think he’d be a great roster fit there. I just don’t know that the Penguins, where they are, are going to be making the kind of trade it would take to get him.”
Essentially, he’s not sure the Penguins are ready to invest what it would take to trade for Trocheck and insert him into this current roster.
Trocheck would fit nicely, though, and maybe Pittsburgh should just make something happen before it’s too late.
