One of the biggest moves that the New York Rangers made this offseason was trading center Vincent Trocheck to the Utah Mammoth.
It was a move that had been in the works for months. Trocheck was a popular name ahead of the NHL trade deadline, even being held out of a game when negotiations heated up. Alas, no deal was made, and the team held onto him, believing his market would be stronger in the summer.
It was a matter of when, not if, Trocheck would be moved, and the Mammoth eventually made an offer the Rangers liked enough to accept. They received defenseman Sean Durzi, prospect Cole Beaudoin and a 2027 third-round pick in exchange for him.
However, Beaudoin isn’t the prospect that New York was originally targeting in the deal. According to insider Elliotte Friedman, the Rangers had their sights set on other young players in the Utah organization: Tij Iginla, Caleb Desnoyers and Ethan Belchetz.
Rangers were aiming high in Vincent Trocheck trade talks with Mammoth
“The one thing about Utah is when you talk to them, they make it very clear that they're not really interested in trading those guys. When they did Trocheck with the Rangers, the Rangers tried to get one of those guys,” Friedman said during an appearance on a recent episode of Oilers NOW with Bob Stauffer.
He believes that Beaudoin has a chance to be a pretty good player, but he certainly doesn’t have the ceiling of the other three players mentioned. All four players have been selected by the Mammoth in the first round since their inception.
Iginla was the No. 6 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, where Beaudoin was selected No. 24. Desnoyers was picked No. 4 overall in the 2025 NHL Draft and Belchetz came off the board at No. 17 in this year’s draft.
Asking for any of those players highlights just how highly regarded Trocheck was by the franchise. He is still a productive two-way player on the ice, and his contract is going to become more and more valuable with the salary cap on the rise.
Pressure on Cole Beaudoin to meet expectations
You certainly cannot blame New York for aiming as high as possible in trade talks. They need help down the middle, especially in the long term, with Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller both being 33 years old.
Beaudoin can help down the line, but evaluators see his upside as capped. Most view him as a bottom-six forward, with a No. 3 center being the best outcome. If he really exceeds expectations, he could be a No. 2 center, but not many analysts envision that occurring.
Pressure is certainly on him to live up to expectations, so this trade is viewed as a winning one for the franchise.
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