Rangers’ captain Jacob Trouba earns NHL’s Mark Messier Leadership Award
NEW YORK (AP) — From one former New York Rangers to a current one, Jacob Trouba was selected as the winner of the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, the league announced on Tuesday.
The award winner is selected personally by Messier and presented since 2007 to a player who “exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey.”
Trouba is the first Rangers’ player to earn the honour after helping lead his team to a franchise-best 55 wins and a Presidents’ Trophy for leading the NHL with 114 points. The Rangers hold a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven second-round playoff series against Carolina, with Game 6 at the Hurricanes on Thursday.
On the ice, the second-year captain ranked fourth on the team with a little more than 21 minutes of ice time per game in a two-way role in which Trouba had three goals and 22 points in 69 games, while also playing a key role on the penalty-killing unit. He finished 12th in the league and second on the team in being credited with 183 blocked shots.