Rangers already seeing version of Vincent Trocheck they desperately need

There was Vincent Trocheck Saturday afternoon at TD Garden, putting up two of the best scoring chances for the Rangers in their 4-1 loss to the Bruins three days before the official start of the 2025-26 season.

There he was Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, getting under the skin of the rival Devils in a meaningless exhibition game.

He threw a shoulder into the 6-foot-2, 218-pound Jonas Siegenthaler, who grabbed at Trocheck’s jersey before punching the back of his head.

The 6-foot-6 Dougie Hamilton then skated over to cross-check Trocheck as Siegenthaler grabbed and shoved his full-face-shielded head.

Trocheck just smiled and laughed.

That’s the Trocheck the Rangers targeted after playing against him in the second round of the 2022 playoffs when he was with the Hurricanes.

That’s the Trocheck who dominated in the 2024 playoffs, in which he tormented his former team from the other side of the ice in more ways than one.

That’s the Trocheck the 2025-26 New York Rangers need in order to return to playoff contention.

“I think it’s a huge part of his game,” Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan said of Trocheck that night after the Devils game. “He’s at his best when he’s in the middle of it. I think that’s the type of player he is. He’s a fierce competitor. He wears his emotions right on his sleeve. He plays a game with a lot of courage. And to a certain extent, that type of emotion is a big part of the leadership that he brings. I think he’s at his best when he’s playing that type of a game.”

We didn’t see that aggravating side of Trocheck much last season. Perhaps it was difficult to channel that when the team as a whole had fallen into a pattern of lethargic performances.

It was far from the biggest problem in the Rangers’ game last season, but there was hardly any snarl in the lineup.

Along with his longtime friend and new Rangers captain J.T. Miller, Trocheck needs to bring that sandpaper play to the top six. That in-your-face, get-out-of-my-way kind of presence who can make an opponent’s blood boil with both a chirp and a goal.

The Trocheck who waves at opponents as they skate over to sit in the penalty box.

After signing a seven-year, $39.375 million deal with the Rangers as a free agent from Carolina in July 2022, Trocheck was exactly as advertised through his first two seasons in New York.

The Hurricanes didn’t want to commit to the 5-foot-11 center long term, but the Blueshirts saw a trait they were desperately missing in their lineup.

He went from 64 points (22 goals, 42 assists) in 82 games in Year 1 to 77 points (25 goals, 52 assists) in 82 games in Year 2, averaging over two more minutes of ice time in the latter.

Despite scoring the most goals he ever has in a Rangers jersey last season with 26, Trocheck dropped off to 59 points in 82 contests.

But the 32-year-old has posted a 58.1 faceoff win percentage over his three seasons in New York. He finished 58 percent from the dot Saturday, too.

As long as Artemi Panarin is healthy to start the season, it’s possible that Trocheck will be back centering the star Russian wing and Alexis Lafrenière. The trio led the entire NHL in five-on-five goals during the 2023-24 season, but they were simply one of the most dynamic lines on a game-to-game basis.

While they couldn’t quite capture the same magic when they skated together last year, there’s no reason not to try again.