It didn’t take long for Jacob Trouba to return to the middle of Rangers trade rumors.
Amid a three-game losing streak and sluggish start to the season, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury recently told all 31 other teams that a plethora of the team’s longest-tenured players are available for trade, including Trouba, who is currently the team’s captain, The Post’s Mollie Walker confirmed.
Trouba broke his silence about the news Tuesday.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Trouba said after the Rangers’ optional practice. “I’m happy to be here. I’m focused on playing hockey. Can’t really control that, I think I learned that throughout the summer. Gotta kind of walk all that out and focus on playing hockey with this group here and being the best we can be.”
Trouba said that he and Drury have not spoken about the report.
“I think it’s part of the business,” Trouba said. “I don’t know if it’s real or not, I don’t know. My job is to play hockey and that’s what I’m focused on.”
Chris Kreider is also one player on the Rangers’ core that is available for trade, though he didn’t practice Tuesday with an upper-body injury.
The Rangers tried to trade Trouba over the offseason, but he blocked any potential moves to 15 teams on the no-trade list he possesses as part of his contract.
The Rangers subsequently ended up retaining the polarizing defenseman, who has just one year worth $8 million left on his deal after this season.
Head coach Peter Laviolette said Tuesda he’d prefer to let the team’s veterans work out of their current rut.
“To me, I think you have to give players the opportunity to respond,” Laviolette said. “You address situations that come up, you address things that need attention and then you gotta give them a chance to respond and a chance to work their way out of it. No team will go through the year and be happy with the 82 games that they play.”
