SUNRISE, Fla. — It wasn’t so much a surprise as it was an affirmation.
When Marc Staal needed emergency ankle surgery on Nov. 9, the Rangers had the option of making someone else an alternate captain. That next game, on Nov. 10 against the Panthers at the Garden, there was the ‘A’ sown to the sweater of Jacob Trouba.
“I guess I’m that guy,” Trouba said before his team wrapped up their two-game Florida swing against the Panthers on Saturday night.
The 25-year-old defenseman worked his way out of Winnipeg this offseason, and the Rangers traded a first-round pick (previously obtained from the Jets in the Kevin Hayes deadline deal) along with defenseman Neal Pionk to obtain the rights of the restricted free agent.