Jacob Trouba suspension: Could Rangers captain be disciplined for hit on Habs' Justin Barron?

New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba does not deserve any disciplinary action following his hit on the Montreal Canadiens’ Justin Barron.

The controversial hit happened during the third period of Tuesday night's Habs-Rangers game. With the score 5-2 and both sides playing 4-on-4, Jacob Trouba laid into Barron with a punishing body check that left Barron visibly shaken up.

Immediately, Habs defenseman Mike Matheson engaged Troub in retaliation, dropping the gloves. Jacob Trouba and Mike Matheson traded blows before the officials separated the two combatants.

While Barron appeared to be fine despite being slow to get up, the bigger question lies in the hit being worthy of disciplinary action.

When looking at the replay, the hit looked clean. Of course, it was a crushing hit, but there were no indications the hit was ill-intended.

For starters, Trouba’s head, arms and stick were down. There didn’t seem to be any reason to believe that Trouba had stuck out his elbow or deliberately used any part of his body to make contact with Barron.

Secondly, Trouba’s feet remained on the ice. It didn’t appear that Trouba leaped forward, trying to gain unfair momentum into the hit.

Lastly, Trouba was not penalized on the play. Had the hit been illegal in any way, the officials would have called a penalty. However, the only disciplinary action issued to Trouba was a fighting major for his altercation with Matheson.

Jacob Trouba has a history of disciplinary action

Jacob Trouba is no stranger to fines and suspensions. For instance, Trouba received a two-game suspension for a hit on the Vegas Golden Knights Pavel Dorofeyev in January 2024.

In that particular incident, Trouba clearly stuck out his elbow, striking Dorofeyev in the head. The league deemed the hit to be an illegal blow to the head, thus warranting the suspension.

However, on Tuesday night, Trouba’s hit on hit Barron did not resemble anything like the hit on Dorofeyev. While the hit was forceful and punishing, it was not illegal. That being said, the league could look into the play.

At worst, Trouba could get a fine for the hit. Perhaps Trouba could face disciplinary action like the Toronto Maple Leafs Oliver Ekman-Larsson hit his hit on Jake Guentzel. Ekman-Larsson received a $5,000 fine for a similar play this week.

Ultimately, the Trouba hit on Barron seemed legal. Of course, the hit had drawn the ire of some fans. But it would be highly surprising to see the NHL issue any sort of disciplinary action. The play will go down as just another incidence of Trouba’s hard-hitting reputation.