Mike Sullivan, NY Rangers could lose former first-round pick while Vincent Trocheck prepares for imminent trade

Mike Sullivan and the New York Rangers are gearing up for a crucial NHL trade deadline. Although Vincent Trocheck looks like the main candidate to pack his bags, he likely won’t be the lone departure for the Broadway Blueshirts.

The NHL rumor mill suggests Trocheck will be headed to JFK, LaGuardia, or Newark Liberty at any moment. However, as the Blueshirts decided to dress the veteran center for their Monday showdown against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Sullivan and the Rangers made something clear about Trocheck. Although, insiders link him to several organizations, Trocheck remains a Blueshirt and will play for them until a trade is finalized.

More likely than not, March 2nd’s matchup against Columbus will be Trocheck’s last home game at Madison Square Garden; he may be treated to one last dance at 4 Penn Plaza. A former first-round selection by the Rangers, however, may not earn such special treatment. According to reports, Brennan Othmann is a name to watch going into the trade deadline.

“I’d be pretty surprised if we get through [the trade deadline] and Brennan Othmann is still a member of the New York Rangers,” Frank Seravalli stated on Frankly Hockey.

Brennan Othmann of the New York Rangers

Othmann’s contract situation

To say Othmann’s time with the Rangers has been disappointing would be an understatement. Selected 16th overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Othmann has appeared in only 42 career games, registering just one goal and two assists. For a young player who once put up 97 points in 66 games during the 2021-22 OHL season, his NHL average of 0.07 points per game is not what the Rangers expected nor hoped for.

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Othmann was sent down to the AHL on Feb. 27th, where he could be moved before the March 6 deadline. Othmann will become a restricted free agent (RFA) on July 1st, when his three-year entry level contract expires.

While an offer sheet is a theoretical possibility, the compensation would likely be minimal—or non-existent—given his current production. In turn, that means his trade value is extremely low at the moment. If the Rangers don’t even put him on the ice at Madison Square Garden, then they don’t even give him a chance to improve his stock.

When does the season end?

What a rollercoaster the 2025-26 NHL season has been for the Rangers—a bad one, at that. When it comes to such rides, the fun resides in the unexpected turns and drops that grant an adrenaline rush. During Sullivan’s first year in Manhattan, though, fans were treated to a constant downhill slide instead. By the time the campaign comes to an end, the Rangers will be feeling nauseous, that’s for sure, but no one will have any desire to ever live through something like this again.

If given the chance, the Rangers may have thrown in the towel a long time ago. Instead, they are now looking out of the corners of their eyes at the schedule, hoping for the days to fly by. Barring a miraculous climb, the Rangers will play their last regular-season game on April 16th, and that will be all she wrote for one of the worst campaigns in franchise history.