TARRYTOWN - If you ask Jacob Trouba − which a group of reporters most certainly did following Thursday's opening session of Rangers' training camp at the MSG Training Center − nothing that went down this summer took him by surprise.

The captain didn't refute reports that the Blueshirts shopped him to other teams, nor did he deny making his own effort to stick around. He clearly took issue with some of the narratives that surfaced, particularly those that dragged his family into the fray, but the trade possibility was not on his list of grievances.

"Not even a little bit," he said when asked if there were any hurt feelings. "I could care less."

Takeaways: Continuity isn't a bad thing for Rangers coach Peter Laviolette

Trouba wasn't offended, he said, because he was fully aware of the shift in his contract status.

The no-movement clause he held his first five years in New York changed to a partial no-trade list on July 1. It required the 30-year-old defenseman to pick 15 teams he could block trades to, leaving 16 other franchises the Rangers could deal with.

"That's life, contracts, hockey, business – whatever you want to call it," he said. "I knew that was coming that summer. It's not by surprise. It was obviously something that was negotiated at the time. It's part of pro sports. I can get traded now. I know that. I knew that when I signed the contract. At this moment, I could get traded. So, it's no surprise or difference in how I act or approach things. A lot of people in the NHL can get traded at any time, and that's part of the business."

How far down that road the Blueshirts went isn't entirely clear, with team president Chris Drury mostly dodging questions about trade talks. But multiple league sources believe they at least explored the possibility of moving their captain, primarily for the purpose of clearing the $8 million salary cap hit for each of the final two years of his deal.

Trouba, on the other hand, preferred to stay, with that message quickly circulating around the NHL and being reiterated Thursday.

"I want to be here," he said, noting that he had "good communication with the organization throughout" the summer.

"I love living here. I love New York. My family loves it here, as everybody is now aware of."

One person with knowledge of the situation told lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, that likely discouraged potential suitors from pursuing a trade. It's also likely that Trouba's agent, Kurt Overhardt, identified possible destinations and used the no-trade power to their advantage, as is Trouba's right.

But the source stressed that, had a deal been completed with a team that wasn't included on Trouba's list, rumors about him refusing to report, thereby breeching his contract and forfeiting his pay, were unfounded.

"There's a lot of things that were said and snowballed," Trouba said. "You're going to have to figure out where they came from. If you find out, let me know. I'm excited to be here, happy to be back in the room with this group and this coaching staff. I think we have a great opportunity ahead of us this year."

As for where the relationship stands between Trouba and the organization, No. 8 insisted all is well. He's worked behind the scenes to develop a tight-knit team culture and seemed determined not to let what he called "noise" seep into the locker room.

"There’s no mending fences," he said. "I don't think there was any animosity throughout the whole thing."

No one doubts Trouba's leadership commitment − "He did an excellent job as captain of this team," head coach Peter Laviolette said − but the on-ice results will need to improve now that his return is imminent for at least one more season.

He's registered a combined expected-goals-against differential of -37.4 the last two seasons, according to moneypuck.com, with those struggles heightened upon his return from a broken ankle late last season. He was demoted to the bottom pair for much of the playoffs and may be relegated to a reduced five-on-five role in 2024-25.

Trouba downplayed whether the questions surrounding his play or future with the team are adding extra motivation, saying, "I know where I'm at and where I want to go." Conversely, he pointed to a veteran group that understands they may not be together much longer if they come up short of their championship goal as the primary rallying cry.

"In all likelihood, it will probably be the last crack for this core," he said. "I don't think that's a secret by any means. We're a group that's kind of grown together, spent some years together here, and we have something we want to accomplish."

Laviolette preaches competition among D corps

Don't go penciling in Trouba for the bottom pair quite yet.

He spent time skating next to both Zac Jones and K'Andre Miller at Thursday's practice, but the majority of his shifts came alongside the latter. Miller finished last season paired with Braden Schneider, who passed Trouba on the depth chart, but Laviolette may be giving his captain a chance to earn his spot back.

"It'll move," Laviolette said. "We're going to take a look at everything. I think there's been good pairings along the way, good line combinations along the way. There could be younger players that are pushing, or players that we've acquired that are pushing from different directions. Training camp is about opportunity, as well. And, so, that's today. Things will change tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox worked almost exclusively together while Jones took most of his shifts with Schneider.

Jones is the clear front-runner to fill the bottom-pair void left when Erik Gustafsson signed with Detroit, and while Laviolette praised the 23-year-old's work filling in for the injured Trouba last March, the coach is stressing competition among his D corps.

"I do think he even had a bigger role and stepped into those situations at the end of the year," Laviolette said of Jones. "He really looked good as a player for us, and so that gives him some confidence coming back into this year. It is, though, as I talked about (Wednesday), also a battle for positions. There are other defensemen here, as well."

Reilly Smith gets first look at 1RW

Thursday also featured the first glimpse into how Laviolette may want to arrange his forwards.

As expected, newcomer Reilly Smith skated at right wing on the veteran line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.

"There's no question that he's a guy who, when the puck's on his stick, he's dangerous," Laviolette said of Smith. "He's dangerous to make plays. He's dangerous to put it in the back of the net. He's proven to be a top player on teams that he's been on in the past."

The rest of the lines came as no surprise, either.

Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière should remain together after leading all NHL trios with 54 goals as a unit last season, while Will Cuylle, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko began as line No. 3. Prospect Brennan Othmann worked in with that group, as well, while the fourth line featured a rotation of Jonny Brodzinski, Sam Carrick, Adam Edström and Jimmy Vesey.

Matt Rempe is also in the mix for a bottom-six role, but the 6-foot-8 rookie had to take the ice with the earlier group to complete his on-ice testing.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY Rangers captain Jacob Trouba clears the air regarding trade rumors