From Trouba’s perspective: Is this holdout really worth it?

A month away from the December 1st RFA deadline, the Winnipeg Jets are still without Jacob Trouba. While the Jets have struggled in Trouba’s absence, it’s Trouba who may be getting the worst of this whole debacle. Holdouts are no stranger to the NHL, Trouba’s situation may be more unique than it seems at first glance.

The forgotten thing is, Trouba’s burning more bridges than just Winnipeg. 

It’s fine for players to have preferred destinations, thats their right. Everyone can have a choice in where they live, we are all humans. But here’s the matter of fact for Trouba- he essentially won’t play for all seven Canadian teams along with any team that would put him on his off-side on the back end, that’s problematic. 

Now if you also subtract the teams that simply can’t afford Trouba, you’re looking at only a couple of teams that could even kick tires on the D-man to begin with. Then you have to factor in if the Jets could even workout a deal with those teams that have interest in Trouba. The Jets aren’t going to be an easy negotiating partner in this kind of deal and that could turn many teams away from acquiring Trouba with their asking price.

Trouba doesn’t have teams bending over backwards to get him right now, it’s not like this holdout will spark a team to move everything around just so they can acquire Jacob Trouba, training camp is over and the regular season is upon us.

Trouba is waiting it out and that’s fine, but along the way in this hold-out he has narrowed down his options to a short and particular list of teams he could play for. Despite the fact that the best place for him to play from a hockey standpoint is truly Winnipeg. Getting to play top pairing minutes alongside Dustin Byfuglien, one of the leagues most elite defenseman, doesn’t appear to be enough to entice Trouba to switching over to the left side. 

RFA’s don’t need to sign if they do not want to, thats their right. But in the case of Trouba, does he dislike Winnipeg so much that he could potentially jeprodize his career just so he doesn’t have to play there?

Not seeing Canada as a ” fit” and putting out a statement that he will only play on the right side defense may prove to hurt him more than it may appear. There’s a month to get a deal done and in the chance Trouba sits out the entire year, not only will his value hinder, his game surely will as well. 

Is this really worth it for Trouba? The thing is, there is still a very high chance that he walks back in to the Jets dressing room before December 1st. Trouba and his camp know this and they’ve done their due dillegnece in calculating how this all could play out. If Trouba signs with the Jets just for the sake of not losing a year of hockey, what would he have accomplished? He would have missed two months of game-action and in the process likely ticked off more teammates than just Mathieu Perreault.

The thing is, as we’ve said many times on this site, Trouba has very little leverage. If the location of the team he plays for is his primary issue, then his job as an NHL player isn’t important enough to him. Trouba is closer to Free Agency than he may think and until that time, his best hockey opportunity lies in Winnipeg.

Trouba is an athlete and I’m sure he loves to play the game he is payed to play. I’m sure staying at home while the NHL season is ongoing is definitely a tough pill to swallow. Measuring how a player fits on a team position wise is important, but are they at the forefront of his priorities enough for him to sit out the whole year? Is his seemingly dislike for Winnipeg and Canada enough for him to sit out an entire year? 

Those are questions Trouba needs to ponder as December 1st is fast-approaching