With the 2025-26 NHL season officially in the books, the New York Rangers can now fully focus on their needs not only in the draft but in free agency as well. The Rangers need help in a few key areas, and a trade with an Eastern Conference rival could do the trick in at least one spot. In a purely hypothetical trade at this moment, but something worth pursuing to get a jump on the market.
The hypothetical trade in question would be focused around veteran centr Vincent Trocheck going to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for the rights of Alex Tuch, Jack Quinn, with an additional 1st round pick in this year's draft and prospect Vsevolod Komarov for some further packaging.
Tuch, 30, saw his 7 year $33.25 million contract expire as of today, and he was already a prime trade destination candidate among several teams, including the Rangers. Tuch's 2025-26 season was phenomenal, scoring 33 goals and 33 assists for 66 points in 79 games, his 2nd consecutive 30+ goal season and 4th consecutive 20+ goal season, his 5th with the Sabres.
Tuch's numbers goal scoring wise have exponentially jumped ever since he was traded from the Golden Knights after the 2020-21 season, and his consistency is something the Rangers should absolutely desire.
Jack Quinn, meanwhile, is another star in Buffalo at just age 24, and he posted his first career 20 goal season with the Sabres in 2025-26, landing right at the mark for a career high. Adding that to a modest 31 assists gave the 24 year old Ottawa native 51 points, putting him just outside the top five in team points totals. Tuch for the record finished 3rd in Sabres player points behind the likes of captain Rasmus Dahlin and the dynamic Tage Thompson. A budding youngster like Quinn would be perfect for the Rangers to acquire and adapt, and they could line him up to help bolster the Rangers' RW line which other than Alexis Lafreniere, is a little lacking at the moment.
The last part of this potential trade package, which could be a solid deal for both teams, is 22 year old Russian defenseman Vsevolod Komarov, who's struggled a bit in the Sabres' system with AHL Rochester but had some flashes in junior with QMJHL teams like the Quebec Remparts and the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Komarov is a Memorial Cup champion, awarded to the best team in Canadian junior hockey across the WHL, OHL and QMJHL, and is a 2 time champion in that latter league, with a playoff MVP in that league as well. Point is, this young defenseman already has tons of hardware, giving him a strong resume and a case for the Rangers to make a deal.
Now, why might this hypothetical trade work out? For a couple of reasons, starting with how the Sabres might not be so willing to let two separate talents in Tuch and Quinn go. They can cover a little bit with Dahlin and Thompson and a few others, but any time you lose two stars like that isn't usually a good thing. The other big thing that could prevent the Rangers from making a deal is if the Sabres raise the price on Tuch too high or they force New York to give up more than just Trocheck. The Rangers do have the 11th most remaining cap space of any team in the league, which is nice, but they should still be a little bit careful since making a deal for an obviously expensive player like Tuch could drop their remaining cap space quite a bit.
We'll see if anything gets done before the league's summer trade on July 1. Till then, this trade is a deal Rangers fans can only dream of.
