As the Olympic break ends and NHL teams return to action, the New York Rangers will be looking to finish their 2025-26 campaign off strongly. After a tough start to the season, they will be heading into the 2926 Trade Deadline as sellers, looking to take advantage of the value of some of their players, in hopes of being back in contention next season.
In this edition of Rangers News & Rumors, we take a look at the trade market for Vincent Trocheck and where he may end up. We also take a look at an injury update on forward Matt Rempe, and lastly, we take a look at some speculation surrounding Alexis Lafreniere.
Vincent Trocheck Trade Market Taking Shape
The one player who is expected to be traded for sure is forward Vincent Trocheck, who has been involved in trade speculation for a couple of months now. Several teams have been loosely connected to Trocheck, including the Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, and Montreal Canadiens, and it seems as though it is a matter of time before he is playing for a new team.
Trocheck, who is 32 years old, is coming off a Gold medal win with Team USA at the Olympics. This season with the Rangers, he has scored 12 goals and added 24 assists for 36 points through 43 games. Through 844 career games, he has scored 235 goals and added 379 assists for 614 points. He is extended through the 2028-29 season and has a $5,625,000 cap hit.
Matt Rempe to Undergo Thumb Operation
It was revealed recently that forward Matt Rempe, who has dealt with some injury issues already this season, will be undergoing another operation on his thumb.
Matt Rempe is going on IR, per source. He's getting a procedure related to his persistent thumb injury stemming from the Ryan Reaves fight.
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) February 20, 2026
Rempe, who is 23 years old, has played just 26 games this season, scoring one goal and chalking up 11 penalty minutes. He should be back before the end of the season, but time will tell how much more action he sees before the end of the campaign.
Could the Rangers Trade Lafreniere?
Ever since the Rangers revealed they were planning on retooling in hopes of being back in contention next season, Alexis Lafreniere’s name has been tossed around in trade rumors. Some fans view Lafreniere as a player who has already hit his ceiling, and they want him to be moved, while some fans want him to stick around and see if he can find another gear offensively.
Lafreniere, who is 24 years old, has scored 12 goals and added 20 assists for 32 points through 57 games this season. In 437 career games, he has scored 104 goals and added 121 assists for 225 points. He is in the first season of a seven-year contract that has a $7,450,000 cap hit, and it seems likely that a team would be willing to give him a fresh start, should the Rangers be interested in moving him.
There haven’t been any reports past fan and analyst speculation that the Rangers are actively looking to trade Lafreniere, but if the right move came along, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them pull the trigger. We will see if they decide to keep him around or not, but with just over a week until the trade deadline, the team will have to decide on his future quickly.
As the 2025-26 season moves along, be sure to continue following The Hockey Writers as your source for news, updates, and more from around the NHL and the hockey world.
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