New York Rangers to follow the Maple Leafs and strip veteran of his captaincy

Yesterday was an abrupt change for the Toronto Maple Leafs leadership has general manager Brad Treliving along with John Tavares made the decision to hand over the captaincy to Auston Matthews.

Many fans and pundits throughout the league felt this wasn't inevitable but it was sudden and widely unexpected to happen this year.

The Maple Leafs management has stated repeatedly that this decision was discussed in May when the Maple Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins in the first round. Treliving was quite adamant that many discussions were in play along with the process to make this happen. Many fans are skeptical of his explanation.

In Trouba's case, there have been rumblings and rumors flying around the web that the Rangers have been trying to move his contract and it also almost came to fruition when general manager Chris Drury tried to trade him to the Detroit Red Wings.

That trade never materialized, and it appears true but will remain with the Rangers at the beginning of this season. But could Drury do the same to Trouba with his captaincy? There are many leaders amongst that dressing room that could easily take over the role and give a different voice compared to Trouba and his style.

Drury shocked the Rangers after moving Barclay Goodrow to waivers in which he was picked up by the San Jose Sharks who happened to be on his no trade list.

Drury Has shown that he can be aggressive but it's unlikely he will strip the captaincy from Trouba. He will likely continue to allow him to be the leader while working the phones to see if he could be traded.

Source: The Hockey News