After four months away from hockey, Trocheck, Canes feeling fresh for the playoff push
The Stanley Cup playoffs can be a matter of health and attrition as much as on-ice execution, of being able to play through the injuries that come with the grind of the regular season.
Some teams limp into the playoffs, with key players dealing with various ailments. Some don’t.
But the NHL’s Return to Play postseason plan has brought about an interesting, perhaps unprecedented twist: after four months away during the coronavirus pandemic, the 24 teams competing for the 2020 Stanley Cup should be fresh and frisky, ready for some intense, fast-paced hockey.
“Four months off, right before the playoffs, everybody is kind of at 100 percent health, individually, and kind of ready to go and anxious to play,” Carolina Hurricanes center Vincent Trocheck said Thursday. “I think everybody is ready to go and it could be one of the best playoffs we see.”
The Canes, in their qualifying round matchup against the New York Rangers, will have defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Sami Vatanen at full speed, their injuries healed. Center Jordan Staal, who does much heavy lifting for the Canes, will be strong. The Canes’ “energy” guys such as Brock McGinn and Jordan Martinook will be fully energized.
Trocheck, who has had some injury issues, is ready. When the NHL paused the season March 12, he didn’t pack up the family and head out of Raleigh. Trocheck stayed put. He hunkered down. He waited and wondered, hopeful there would be more hockey but mindful that the coronavirus pandemic had put everything on hold, indefinitely.
Trocheck was traded to the Hurricanes on Feb. 24 and the price was steep. The Canes got Trocheck. The Florida Panthers, in return, got centers Erik Haula and Lucas Wallmark, defensive prospect Chase Priskie and forward Eetu Luostarinen.
The Canes believe the four-for-one deal will pay off, not only in the 2020 postseason but beyond — Trocheck has two years remaining on his contract. But the most immediate need is for the center to be at his feisty best in Toronto against the Rangers in the best-of-five qualifier.
Trocheck played just seven games for Carolina before the season was suspended March 12. Injuries the past two seasons had limited his offensive production, and he said he never felt completely at ease with the Canes’ system after the trade.
“Coming from a different team you’re going to have a little bit of confusion,” Trocheck said in a Zoom media call. “Different system, different style of play. It definitely took a little bit of adjusting but I’m 100 percent acclimated.”
As is his family, he said. After living in South Florida for almost seven years, the move to the Triangle presented a new setting and lifestyle.
“It’s been different but it’s been good,” he said. “We’ve been able to get to know the city a little bit. My family’s got acclimated here and I’ve gotten to know a lot of the guys more than I would have if it was just the end of the season and going right into the playoffs.”
After putting up career highs with 31 goals and 75 points with Florida in the 2017-18 season, Trocheck suffered a broken ankle in November 2018 after a collision with Ryan Dzingel, then with the Ottawa Senators and now one of his Canes teammates.
Trocheck, 26, was injured again this past October after blocking a shot. In 55 games with the Panthers before the trade, he had 10 goals and 26 assists, then had one goal and one assist in his seven Canes games as he centered the third line and tried to quickly adjust.
Then, the long pause.
“From that standpoint it’s benefited me, being able to get healthy, take some time off and not have any wear and tear on the body,” he said.
Trocheck gives the Canes a right-shot centerman. He has experience — 420 games with the Panthers. Listed at 5-10 and 183 pounds, the Pittsburgh native can be used on special teams and has been known to be a pest on the ice for opposing teams buzzing around the net.
In Thursday’s training camp practice, Trocheck was on a power-play unit with Nino Niederreiter, Martin Necas, Morgan Geekie and Sami Vatanen. Dzingel alternated with Geekie and Jake Gardiner with Vatanen on the unit.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said he expected some of the discomfort that comes with a trade, especially someone like Trocheck was such an integral part of the Panthers franchise.
“That’s normal,” Brind’Amour said. “Our system is a little different than the traditional, so there’s a lot to pick up. You could tell he was a little unsure in that seven-game span. But he did a little work on the video over the break. This two weeks (of camp) will help him a lot.”
Trocheck got in two playoff games for the Panthers in 2016. Given the depth on this Canes team, especially on the back end, he believes his new team can make a push, contend for the Cup.
“It’s pretty simple,” Trocheck said “Everybody wants to win the Stanley Cup. That’s what we’re fighting for.”
