Rangers' Vincent Trocheck had surgery on lung early in season: 'I thought I was dying'

GREENBURGH — Injuries to crucial players at certain important points of the season had a big effect on the Rangers’ season, but the one suffered by Vincent Trocheck at the start of the season doesn’t get talked about as often as some others.

But as the Rangers had their exit meetings on Friday after their second straight playoffs-less season, Trocheck revealed that his injury was much more serious than most people knew.

“I had some viral bacteria get into my lung,’’ he said. “I wasn’t sure what it was. This happened, I think, before the first game of the year. I thought I was just having back spasms. And then I played the first game and it got a little bit worse. I played in Buffalo [in the season’s second game], I think I got a cross-check right in that area, and whatever fluid was in there — it’s like bubbles, and I guess the bubble burst, and it spread — so then it just got a lot worse.’’

Trocheck missed the next 14 games with what the team at the time called an upper-body injury.

“I had a lot of fluid around my lung. So I had to have surgery to get the fluid removed, chest tubes, whatever,’’ he said. “I was in the hospital for like a week. Just very weird. It wasn’t like an injury, I don’t think. No one really knows how it came about.

“It was very scary,’’ he said. “I thought I was dying.”

Surgery corrected the problem, and Trocheck was fine once he did return. He played every game except one — he was held out of the lineup March 5 against Toronto for roster management purposes on the eve of the trade deadline — and finished with 16 goals and 37 assists in 67 games. He also played for the United States in the Olympics.

“It just gradually got better,’’ he said. “It was just a lung capacity thing. Once I was back on the ice and I skated a couple times, it was more getting the stamina back.”

The Rangers went 6-6-2 in the 14 games Trocheck missed but were 0-4-1 at home in that span. They never seemed to recover from their poor home start.

“Well, it didn’t help, I’ll tell you that,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said when asked about the impact of Trocheck’s early-season absence. “Listen, every team has to endure injuries. We’re no different in that regard. But what I’ll tell you is . . . some injuries are easier to endure than others, and we had some key ones at certain times in the season that made it tough.

“Troch is obviously a really good player, important element of this team. Foxy [defenseman Adam Fox], he had those back-to-back injuries. We lose him for significant period of time. At the same time, we lose Shesty [goalie Igor Shesterkin]. You know, these guys are core pieces to our team.’’

With the Rangers in a “retool,’’ as described by general manager Chris Drury’s Jan. 16 message to the fans, Trocheck was a much-talked-about candidate to be traded at the March 6 deadline. That didn’t happen, but he’s aware he could be traded over the summer.

“Yeah, I talked to Dru already yesterday, not really about that,’’ he said. “Me and him have got a good line of communication, so we’ll be in contact again as things get along.”

On a Zoom call with reporters later in the afternoon, Drury was asked if Trocheck might be a piece he wants to keep or one who still could be moved.

He didn’t say anything to suggest Trocheck will be off-limits.

“Well, I think if you look at it, they’re kind of two different cycles in the season,’’ Drury said. “The trade deadline, there’s limited buyers, there’s a limited cap space. It’s not the offseason. The rosters aren’t being reshuffled and retooled across the league. So going into the offseason . . . we’re going to review and take a look at everything within the roster, within the organization.’’

When asked if he wants to stay or go, Trocheck didn’t plead his case to stay. He said he wants to see what direction the team is heading in.

“Yeah, it’s important,’’ he said. “I’m a competitive guy. I don’t like to lose. We’re not used to this situation, being out of the playoffs two years in a row. Not making the playoffs sucks. You want to see the team heading in a direction where we’re going to be able to contend.”

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.