Last week, Jacob Trouba likely would have been headed to the Hartford Wolfpack instead of the Anaheim Ducks.
The New York Rangers elected to scratch their captain Trouba during their home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 30-year-old defender has a salary cap hit of $8 million, but like the rest of the club, he's struggled. With the salary cap hit and the Rangers needing to sign goaltender Igor Shesterkin, Trouba ended up at the center of trade speculation.
However, if Trouba doesn't agree to the trade, the decision will make things very complicated for general manager Chris Drury. But Drury had leverage — the ability to take Trouba off waivers and send him to Hartford. Assuming Trouba clears this cap exemption, he could be headed to Hartford on a contract that expires after the 2025-26 season.
Eventually, all parties found a solution, with the Rangers sending Trouba to Anaheim in exchange for guard Urho Vaakanainen and a 2025 fourth-round pick.
2024 Laval Rockets vs Hartford Wolfpack
As early as the 1960s and even earlier, the AHL was known for developing young talent. Player development became even more important after the NHL expansion in 1967, and teams such as the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers quickly established long-lasting, productive development programs with their AHL affiliates. Over the decades and into the salary cap era, that importance has only grown. Young talents like Zdeno Chara, Connor Hellebuyck and Mikko Rantanen all finished their respective games before becoming NHL stars. stage.
But Trouba wouldn't be the first player to be shipped to the AHL after becoming an NHL star. A long list of top NHL players have been sent to the AHL, especially later in their careers. Sometimes, performance-related reasons lead players to the AHL. Or management thinks a veteran needs a wake-up call. Maybe the locker room needs to be shocked to see an old face sent to the American Hockey League (AHL). Maybe a former star has to work his way back to the NHL after a serious injury. Back in 2005 when the salary cap was introduced, cold hard math sometimes left NHL teams with no choice but to send big contracts to the AHL to get some level of salary cap relief. Or maybe, for a player who has gone through a long NHL career, age is just making him younger.
Below is a list of some (though not all) of the NHL's top players who came to the AHL after years of success in the NHL.
Craig Berube – Philadelphia Phantoms
Berube accumulated 3,149 penalty minutes in 17 NHL seasons and joined the Phantoms as a free agent at the beginning of the 2003-04 season at the age of 37. This is his first AHL appearance since becoming a rookie with the Flyers in the 1988-89 season. Not much has changed for him, though. He logged 134 penalty minutes in just 33 games on a Phantoms team filled with enforcers and was named player assistant coach late in the season. The decision to come to the Phantoms launched Berube's coaching career. He retired after the season and became an assistant coach with the Phantoms, becoming the team's head coach in 2006-07 and eventually serving as head coach of the Flyers, St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jonathan Cheechoo – Binghamton Senators, Oklahoma City Barons, Peoria Rivermen, Worcester Sharks
Chicho became a star with the San Jose Sharks in 2005-06, scoring 56 goals, then scored 37 more the next season. After being traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2009, he ended up bouncing around four teams in the AHL. He scored 25 goals in 2011-12 with Peoria before finishing his career in the KHL.
Chris Chelios – Chicago Wolves
In addition to playing two games with the Grand Rapids Griffins a season ago, Chelios got his first extended AHL playing time as a 47-year-old defenseman in 2009-10. He emerged in his hometown of Chicago, winning three Stanley Cups and appearing in 46 regular-season games (5-17-22), plus 14 Calder Cup playoff games. The Wolves have also played forward 40-year-old forward Reed Simpson and 36-year-old goalkeeper Manny Legas. Three years after finishing his career with the Wolves, Chelios is headed to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Alexander Daigle – Hartford, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Manchester Monarchs
Daigle was the No. 1 pick in the 1993 NHL draft and was envisioned as Ottawa's future core player. However, that never happened, and he eventually drifted to the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Rangers. After playing 16 games with Hartford in 1999-2000, he sat out the next two seasons before returning to the Pittsburgh Penguins. After playing 40 games that season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Daigle eventually resumed his career, scoring 20 goals with the Minnesota Wild in 2003-04. , and then returned to the AHL with Manchester in the 2005-06 season.
Rick DiPietro – Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Charlotte Checkers
Another No. 1 pick, the New York Islanders, found success quickly. In 2002, he led the Sound Tigers to the Calder Cup finals in his second professional season. A regular early in his career, he represented the United States at the 2006 Winter Olympics and signed a 15-year contract with the Islanders. But a series of injuries that lasted for several years ultimately ruined DiPietro's career. He played 18 games for Bridgeport in 2012-13 and five more games for Charlotte before retiring.
Tom Gilbert, Scott Gomez and Sheldon Souley – The Hershey Bears
With a winning tradition, top-notch facilities and a willingness to pay for top talent, Hershey has been a destination for veterans trying to return to the NHL. The move paid off for Gomez and Soure, who eventually returned to the NHL after their success with the Bruins. Gilbert did not return to the NHL, but he extended his career for four seasons in the DEL.
Danny Heatley – Norfolk Admirals and San Antonio Rampage
Heatley had two consecutive 50-goal seasons in Ottawa, before Anaheim finally sent him to the AHL in 2014-15, before his goalscoring numbers plummeted. A late-season trade to the Florida Panthers did not inspire Heatley, who went 8-12-20 in 43 regular-season games.
McKean – Manitoba Moose
Like Chelios, Keane is a former captain of the Montreal Canadiens and a three-time Stanley Cup champion. After the 2004-05 season was suspended, Keene returned to the AHL after 17 years. His former AHL team, the Sherbrooke Canadiens, is long gone, but he signed with the Moose and played in his hometown of Winnipeg. He became a Moose captain, extending his career for five seasons and playing 365 regular season games. He captained the Moose to the 2009 Calder Cup finals. Since retiring in 2010, he has served as a development coach for the Winnipeg Jets.
Tom Kostopoulos – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Kostopoulos entered the NHL as a seventh-round pick in 1999 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. That's how he left, playing six more seasons with the AHL club before retiring in 2018.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Hershey
Kuznetsov never actually played for the Bears after being traded to them by the Washington Capitals last March. He did practice with the team and even took the long bus trip to Charlotte, but before he could see a game in Hershey, the Capitals traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Scott Lachance, Grant Marshall, Richard Matvichuk, Dan McGillis and Erik Rasmussen –
Albany River Rats/Lowell Devils
In the early days of the salary cap era, the New Jersey Devils had no qualms about sending NHL veterans to the AHL. McGillis posted a 10-31-41 record with Lowell in 2006-07, his final season in North America, and ranked second on the team in scoring.
Andrew Ladd – Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Ladd sees the AHL from two vantage points: as a 19-year-old first-round pick and as a 30-something veteran trying to salvage his career. When he arrived in Bridgeport, he was on a seven-year deal with the New York Islanders. After winning two Stanley Cups and serving as an NHL captain, his production declined, and a torn ACL further hampered him. He played 34 games for Bridgeport in the 2019-20 season and even dressed for one game during the pandemic in the 2020-21 season. He excelled and played one more season with the Arizona Coyotes before retiring in 2022 after playing 1,001 career NHL games.
Claude Lemieux – Worcester
In 2008, at the age of 43, Lemieux had been away from hockey for four years when he decided to try to make a comeback. The decision to return paid off as he played 18 games for the San Jose Sharks that same season.
Mario Marois and Rick Vaive – Hamilton Canucks
In 1992, the Vancouver Canucks established their own AHL affiliate in Hamilton, and they quickly had star players on their roster. A season ago, Waif played his first 12 AHL games with the Rochester Americans. He scored more than 50 goals in three seasons with the nearby Toronto Maple Leafs nearly a decade ago and has 441 goals on his NHL card. Just two seasons removed from scoring 25 goals with the Buffalo Sabers, the 33-year-old Vaive compiled a 16-15-31 record in 38 games with Hamilton. Marois was already a 34-year-old hard-nosed defender in the final season of his career. He finished with a 5-27-32 record to lead all Hamilton blueliners in 68 games.
Alexander Mogini – Albany
The 36-year-old Mogini emerged in the AHL, and his Albany teammates found themselves playing alongside a player who scored 76 goals in the 1992-93 season. Even toward the end of his NHL career, Mogilny maintained his scoring touch, scoring 12 goals in 34 games with New Jersey before being sent to Albany midseason in January 2006. games (4-10-14), but he could not save the River Rats from last place. On March 22, 2006, he played his last professional game against the River Rats and scored a goal.
Matt Moulson – Ryan & Hershey, Ontario
Moulson was a long-time popular NHL forward, similar to Keane and Kostopoulos, who also ended his career in the AHL. After spending two seasons on the West Coast with the Reign, he moved closer to home and signed with Hershey. He embraced his time with the Bears, quickly became a fan favorite and was named team captain.
Lindy Love – Rochester
Love played 10 seasons in Buffalo and returned to the team after a detour to the Rangers. In the 1991-92 season, he played 62 games for the Amerks, achieving a 10-24-34 record and 110 penalty minutes. After one more season in the International Hockey League with the San Diego Gulls, he began coaching with the expansion Florida Panthers in 1993-94.
Corey Snyder – Bridgeport
Like Ladd, Schneider entered the AHL as a top prospect and left as a veteran mentor. As a rookie in Vancouver, he led Manitoba to the 2009 Calder Cup finals and won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL's top goaltender that season. After a stellar career with Vancouver and New Jersey, he struggled with injuries and was eventually bought out by New Jersey in 2020 and signed with the NHL Islanders. He spent three seasons in Bridgeport toward the end of his career, playing just one game for New York during that span.
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