TROUBADOUR
By Lowetide
7 years agoThe word we are getting is that the Winnipeg Jets and Jacob Trouba are not agreeing on much these days. Gary Lawless of TSN suggests there is a gap across a range of issues, and that—at least for awhile—allows us to discuss the possibility of a trade. Let’s have a look.
THE LAWLESS VERBAL
- “They’re apart on money, they’re apart on term and they’re apart on
usage. Jacob Trouba doesn’t want to play in the bottom pairing anymore.
He wants to play with Dustin Byfuglien or one of the other top four D in
Winnipeg. He wants power-play time. He wants to be a big part of what
they’re doing in Winnipeg if he’s going to be here for a long time.” Source
Lots to talk about here, beginning with questions about what kind of player were are dealing with in Trouba. Is he worthy of a push? What about the power play?
TROUBA PLAYER CARD
- 5×5 points per 60: 0.56 (No. 5 among Jets blue with more than 400 minutes)
- 5×4 points per 60: 2.35 (No. 2 among Jets blue with more than 100 minutes)
- Corsi for % 5×5: 51.9
- Qual Comp: Second pairing
- Qual Team: Third pairing
- Corsi Rel: 0.6
- Shots on goal/percentage: 133/4.5%
- Boxcars: 81GP, 6-15-21
- (All numbers via Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com and BehindtheNet.ca)
Trouba didn’t deliver anything resembling impact numbers offensively at 5×5/60, but that is not terribly unusual. There were 31 defensemen this past season who played over 400 minutes and posted 1.00/60 5×5 or more, and Trouba got there once—in 2013-14, as a rookie.
He isn’t known as a power-play stalwart, posting between three and six points in his first three seasons. That doesn’t mean he can’t deliver—Trouba has a very good shot—but he is not a proven asset at the NHL level in this area.
One item Trouba can boast? Shots on goal. His 133 shots last season compares well to Edmonton’s blue from a year ago:
- Andrej Sekera 155
- Darnell Nurse 120
THE VOLLMAN SLEDGEHAMMER
Trouba is part of a fabulous defensive group, my goodness Oilers fans would love that kind of Vollman. If we look at Trouba and his wowy’s, it offers some insight into how he was deployed and his success:
- Trouba overall: 51.9 Corsi for 5×5 in 1394 minutes.
- Trouba with Mark Stuart: 48.2 in 560 minutes. Trouba was 54.3 w/o Stuart, Stuart 44.3 w/o Trouba.
- Trouba with Byfuglien: 57.3 in 443 minutes. Trouba was 49.1 w/o Buff, Buff 52.6 w/o Trouba.
- (All numbers via Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com)
A couple of things:
- I know lots of Jets fans who swear by Stuart, but he was a drag on Trouba and basically out of the league without him. I think it unwise to look at Trouba’s minutes with Stuart as a reflection of the young man’s actual ability.
- Trouba’s time with Buff was splendid, just very good. Now, I am going to give the veteran the lion’s share of credit, but that is an insanely good possession number.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
The Jets will get this done, no doubt in my mind. I think Trouba does have a point (he could play with Buff), although two righties are rarely seen together (lefty-righty works better based on numbers, and who has these kinds of riches with regard to RHD?) because of their scarcity.
Is Trouba an ideal fit for the Oilers? Not for their current needs (PP hammer) but lordy this looks like a terrific career in its early stages, and this guy probably isn’t available a year from now if he continues to push his results on their current arc.
Could Edmonton pry Jacob Trouba away? Maybe. The price would be dear, though. Leon? More? Oscar? I don’t dare speculate, it may be difficult to get to sleep. The mind boggles. Brace yourself, it would hurt.
A lot.
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