Frozen Pool Forensics: Vincent Trocheck
Chris Liggio
2017-08-11
There’s been a lot of turnover in Sunrise, Florida during the offseason and when looking at the roster, there appears to be a need from someone to step up and fill a scoring void. One candidate to become an even more featured player on this team is the underrated Vincent Trocheck. Arguably the most versatile forward on the Panthers as far as fantasy purposes there is every reason to believe he will be looked to for increased production and leadership.
The 24-year-old center has been a steady supporting scorer for fantasy managers in the past two seasons providing a well-rounded stat line beyond the goals and assists. Possessing one of the more underrated releases in the league, Trocheck has every capability to step into 30-goal territory this coming season if his deployment is right. He's posted consecutive 50-point campaigns with very similar peripheral statistics to provide a nice cross-category floor. In leagues counting faceoff wins, Trocheck continues to show improvement with 288 more wins than in 2015-16. One category he has steadily shown improvement in is the hits department, which strengthens his value in multi-category setting. His 50 blocked shots are also a sneaky bonus. In 2016-17, logging 20:50 minutes of ice time per game was also a significant boost to Trocheck's value in leagues including average time on ice.
Turning to his advanced statistics, Trocheck's PDO highlights the decline of the entire team. With a PDO above 1000 in the prior two seasons, puck luck was often in the Panthers' favor, but statistical correction hit in 2016-17. After two seasons with a positive plus-minus rating, Trocheck’s ugly minus-13 mark also speaks to the changing tide. He is seeing a relatively even split in offensive- and defensive-zone deployment at five-on-five, and although his points per 60 minutes has gone down, his increased Corsi For percentage speaks to his ability to drive possession. Improvement in Sunrise this coming year would definitely help Trocheck's fantasy outlook, but as noted, there appear to be several holes on the current roster.
With Trocheck's most frequent linemates — Reilly Smith and Jussi Jokinen — out of the picture, it'll be interesting to see who flanks the center. The unknown makes it difficult to adequately rank and project Trocheck's fantasy value. The addition of Evgeny Dadonov is intriguing, but there is no guarantee he is going to come in and light up the league. Radim Vrbata is certainly another capable addition, and despite his age, he can still succeed in a top-six role.
There is no denying Trocheck’s value as a quality depth piece for your fantasy roster, Florida's team outlook isn't favorable, and it might cap his upside. He should still fly under the radar in most settings, so his cross-category profile provides a target-worthy production floor. Additionally, entering his age-24 campaign, Trocheck still has potential to improve offensively. His linemates and usage under new head coach Bob Boughner will have an impact, but Trocheck's established himself as a go-to score for Florida, so he's unlikely to disappoint fantasy owners that grab shares later in drafts.