The Utah Mammoth went summer shopping in New York on Wednesday with the club trading for New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck before then signing New York Islanders captain Anders Lee to a three-year deal worth $5.4 million annually.
Acquiring both Trocheck and Lee gives Utah a pair of veterans that are expected to help the Mammoth potentially change a power dynamic in the Western Conference that's been controlled by Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights.
Utah advanced to the playoffs in its second year since the franchise relocated from Arizona as it captured one of the two Western Conference wild-card spots.
The Mammoth initially held a 2-1 series lead only to lose a pair of overtime games before falling to the Golden Knights in six games.
Lee and Trocheck now join a forward group that already had Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and Lawson Crouse with the expectation they'll add even more to a team that finished 12 in goals per game throughout the regular season.
In exchange for Trocheck, the Rangers received defenseman Sean Durzi, prospect Cole Beaudoin and a third-round pick in the 2027 draft. The 32-year-old Trocheck has three seasons remaining on a contract that pays him $5.625 million annually, which is among the best values in the league for a center of his caliber.
Trocheck scored 53 points and recorded 193 hits in 67 games last season. His reputation as one of the league's top shutdown centers and penalty killers was reinforced by his playing a key role in Team USA's gold medal at the 2026 Olympics.
The Rangers had been working on a trade with Trocheck dating back to last season and even scratched the veteran at the 2026 trade deadline for roster management purposes. Trocheck changed his representation this summer to Pat Brisson, hoping to facilitate a trade. Trocheck had some trade protection and initially preferred to stay in the East Coast for family reasons, sources said, but was convinced of a move to Utah.
The Rangers believe Durzi, 27, will slot in as a top-four defenseman who can play on the second power-play unit. He is in the middle of a four-year, $24 million contract he signed in 2024, and joins a Rangers team that was looking to significantly upgrade the blue line this offseason.
Beaudoin, a 2024 first-round pick for Utah, scored 88 points in 54 games this season for the OHL Barrie Colts, including 29 points in 15 playoff games.
Trocheck was part of the Team USA penalty-killing unit that was a perfect 17-for-17 in Milan. His departure comes after Rangers GM Chris Drury announced a retool in January. In a letter to fans, Drury warned the front office's new direction "may mean saying goodbye to players that have brought us and our fans great moments over the years."
Drury traded Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings shortly after. Trocheck and Panarin were part of a core that went to the Eastern Conference finals in 2022 and 2024. Both players also were part of the Rangers' recent leadership group.
Utah was thought to be in the market for another top-nine winger once it traded J.J. Peterka to the Boston Bruins only one year after the club got him in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres.
The 35-year-old Lee scored 19 goals and 42 points what was ultimately his final season with the Islanders, the only team he'd never known.
Lee, who starred at Notre Dame before coming to the Islanders, is a nine-time 20-goal scorer who has also had two seasons of more than 30 goals in his career.
His ice time in his final season on Long Island went from 17:03 in 2024-25 to averaging 15:38 in a season that saw him play in more than 80 games for the fourth straight year and for the eighth time in a career that has seen him score 308 goals and 549 points.
ESPN Senior NHL Insider Emily Kaplan contributed to this report.