Meet the Sellers: Vincent Trochek is the New York Rangers’ best trade chip after dealing Artemi Panarin

The New York Rangers have already made two notable trades.

Shortly before the roster freeze on Wednesday, they sent the best winger, Artemi Panarin, to the Los Angeles Kings. Before that, Carson Soucy was traded to their geographical rivals, the New York Islanders.

Still, the New York Rangers could make a few more moves before the March 6th trade deadline, and there are even some players who should be of interest to the Edmonton Oilers. Let’s identify the Oilers’ needs and what the Rangers have to offer according to Daily Faceoff’s trade board.

Identify the Oilers’ needs

The skinny of the Oilers situation is that while they’re in a playoff spot, they don’t look like the team that went to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals. Earlier this season, they addressed their goaltending needs, a trade that hasn’t quite worked out for them.

Their defensive structure has been an absolute mess all season long, leaking far too many high-danger scoring chances, while they’ve barely seen any production for their bottom six. Heading into the March 6th trade deadline, the Oilers have three primary needs: A winger that can move up and down the lineup and play in their top nine, a right-shot centre for the third line, and a right-shot defenceman.

All that being said, what do the Rangers have to offer?

Vincent Trocheck

If the Oilers want a true game changer for their third line centre, Vincent Trochek is a great option. The Pittsburgh native is a right-shot centre who has been a productive National Hockey League player on some good teams throughout his career. 

Even at the age of 32 years old, Trochek is having a solid season, scoring 12 goals and 36 points in 43 games. That point-per-game pace over 82 games would give him 22 goals and 68 points, one of his better seasons in the league, at least in the point department.

There’s a lot of other things to like about the right-shot centre. This season, he’s won 56.5% of the draws he’s taken, and has won 54.2% of the draws he’s taken in his career. Trochek penalty kills as well, and is somewhat of an agitator.

Trochek is on a team-friendly deal, coming in with a cap hit of $5.625 million until the end of the 2028-29 season. One potential snag is that Trocheck has a 12-team no trade list, and according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 32 Thoughts, the right-shot centre prefers to remain in the Eastern Conference.

Alexis Lafrenière

The New York Rangers selected Saint-Eustache native Alexis Lafrenière first overall in the 2020 draft. He’s not a bust by any means, but the left wingers career-high in goals and points came in 2023-24, potting 28 goals and 57 points.

It looked as if he was finally going to live up to his potential, but Lafrenière scored just 17 goals with 45 points in 82 games last season, and has 12 goals and 32 points in 57 games in 2025-26. If he remains on that pace, that’ll be good enough for 12 goals and 46 points. That’s a productive player, but not one who is living up to his first overall billing.

Daily Faceoff placed Lafrenière in their third tier titled “Big names, blockbuster potential, but too soon”. It’d be a hard swing to trade for the Oilers, as Lafrenière has a cap hit of $7.45 million til the end of the 2031-32 season, with an eight-team no trade list kicking in after the 2026-27 season.

Adding Lafrenière would certainly be interesting, though.

Braden Schneider

The Oilers’ defence has been rough this season and should realistically be an area they look to upgrade, particularly the right-shot. Well, right-shot defenceman Braden Schneider is capable of playing both sides of the ice. At just 24 years old, Daily Faceoff ranked Schneider’s availability in the “names to keep an eye on”.

Through 57 games this season, the Prince Albert, Saskatchewan native has two goals and 11 points in 57 games, a lesser pace than his six goals and 21 points in 80 games in 2024-25. Schneider has never had particularly good under-the-hood metrics either, never posting an expected goal percentage above 48.47 percent, with it currently sitting at 43.68 percent during five-on-five action.

Still, there’s room for the 24-year-old to improve and he has a cap hit of $2.2 million this season. At the end of the season, Schneider is a restricted free agent.

Jonathan Quick

What the Oilers don’t need is a netminder. Two-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Quick is set to become a free agent at season’s end and carries a cap hit of $1.55 million. If Quick was still in his prime, the Oilers would have plenty of interest, but the 40-year-old has an .890 save percentage and 3.10 goals against average in 20 games this season.

That is in large part due to the Rangers’ defence, but the Oilers defence hasn’t been nearly good enough this season either. Plus, the Oilers already made a trade for a netminder.

Trade deadline preview series

• Meet the Sellers: The St. Louis Blues have plenty of players to move
• Trade deadline target: Bobby McMann