Mammoth land Trocheck from Rangers, sign Lee
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- Utah Mammoth acquired center Vincent Trocheck from the Rangers in exchange for defenseman Sean Durzi, 2024 first-round pick Cole Beaudoin, and a 2027 third-round pick, with Trocheck retaining three years left on his $5.625 million AAV contract.
- Trocheck posted 53 points and 193 hits in 67 games last season while serving on Team USA's penalty kill that went a perfect 17-for-17 en route to gold at the 2026 Milan Olympics.
- Anders Lee, the 35-year-old Islanders captain and only player the franchise had ever known, signed a three-year, $5.4 million-per-year deal with Utah after scoring 19 goals and 42 points in his final Long Island season.
- Rangers GM Chris Drury had announced a 'retool' in a January letter to fans, trading Artemi Panarin to the Kings shortly after — Trocheck and Panarin were part of the 2022 and 2024 Eastern Conference finals core.
- Trocheck initially preferred staying on the East Coast for family reasons via trade protection, but changed agencies to Pat Brisson this summer to help facilitate a move and was eventually convinced on Utah.
- Utah finished 12th in the NHL in goals per game and lost to Vegas in six games despite holding a 2-1 series lead, but now adds Trocheck and Lee to a forward group featuring Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, and Dylan Guenther.
Why it matters: Utah added two proven veterans — a shutdown center on a team-friendly $5.625M AAV deal and a nine-time 20-goal scorer — without giving up NHL roster pieces, addressing a 12th-ranked offense that fell in Round 1 despite a 2-1 series lead over Vegas. For the Rangers, the return centers on Durzi filling a blue-line need Drury flagged in his January retool letter.
