Jacob Trouba ‘not overly thrilled’ with how ugly Rangers end went down: ‘Guess that’s part of New York’

Hours after the Rangers traded Jacob Trouba to Anaheim — just the second time he’s been shipped to another team in his 12-year NHL career — the former Blueshirts captain sat down for his introductory Ducks press conference via Zoom from his apartment in New York City.

The 30-year-old defenseman bore his soul in the aftermath of what was an unfortunate ending to his near six seasons in New York.

“I’ll be honest, I was put in a position this summer to make a decision between my career and my family and I chose my family,” Trouba said on Friday. “I would choose my family 100 times over again. I don’t feel bad about that. I was happy about it. I don’t like that it was made public necessarily or how everything unfolded so publicly, but I guess that’s part of New York and what happens. It made it difficult to play, kind of with that hanging over everything.

“The result is the result. I’m happy with moving forward, but I’m not overly thrilled with how it went down. In my opinion, things could’ve been handled better. I’m not blaming anybody or anything, just kind of how it happened I thought was kind of unfortunate.”

Referencing The Post’s July report that his wife, Dr. Kelly Tyson-Trouba, and her incomplete three-year residency at a New York hospital became a factor in the Rangers’ pursuit to trade him, Trouba stood by his decision to do what was best for his family, which expanded with baby Axel in January.

Amid the team’s 1-6 skid entering Friday night’s matchup with the Penguins at Madison Square Garden, the situation had clearly become untenable for the Rangers and for Trouba.

So the Rangers traded Trouba to Anaheim in exchange for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

While the fourth-rounder will be the lower of the Ducks’ two in that round, Anaheim took on all of Trouba’s $8 million cap hit, which applies for one more season after this one.

It was clear the offseason hung over Trouba, who struggled on the ice while posting zero goals and six assists through 24 games.

“Yeah, I was pretty open with players on the team, with the leadership group,” Trouba said when asked if the outside circumstances affected his play. “I mean, leading was a little bit harder for me in that situation, knowing things that were public. If they weren’t public and other guys didn’t know, I think that would’ve been a little bit of an easier situation for me. Things unfolded how they did. It was tough at times, for sure.”

Trouba expressed excitement for a new chapter in Anaheim, noting it is a similar situation to the one he came into in New York in the summer of 2019 with all the young players.

Despite expressing that he wished things were handled differently with the Rangers, Trouba reflected on his time in the organization positively.

“I mean, I loved it,” Trouba said of his time in New York. “Obviously, it’s a bit fresh, but taking some time to reflect, I think, obviously, captaincy is extremely special. The day I was named captain is something I’ll always remember. Two conference finals. Presidents’ Trophy. I think even more so I felt like I had no clue what New York City was when I got here. I feel like I’ve learned and grown so much as a person. Found a love for art, film, a lot of different people that I’ll be lifelong friends with.

“There will be a piece of my heart definitely in New York, some place I’ll definitely come back to a lot. It’s also five years and a bit is a long time. I’m very grateful for all those memories. Time to turn the page and start something new.”