Trouba, who has played significant minutes his entire career, is seeing his lowest per-game ice time this season, and it could drop further.

Just two minutes into the game, the Rangers captain dropped the gloves with Montreal’s Josh Anderson in a heated bout that echoed the growing frustrations around the team and Trouba in particular.

Friedman adds that the Rangers both want to calm down the situation while also keeping control of the situation, which is why the Rangers did not give anyone permission to speak to Trouba or Kreider.