Vincent Trocheck (born July 11, 1993) is an American professional ice hockey player who is a center for the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Florida Panthers in the third round, 64th overall, of the 2011 NHL entry draft.
Trocheck was born on July 11, 1993, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up playing minor ice hockey for the Pittsburgh Hornets until he was 13 years old. Trocheck also competed with the Hornets in the 2006 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament.
Trocheck chose to move to Detroit at the age of 13 with his father in an effort to earn attention from scouts. While in Detroit, Trocheck learned about the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and began attending Plymouth Whalers games. He joined the Detroit Little Caesars AAA team for the 2006–07 season and remained with them for three consecutive seasons. During his time with the team, Trocheck participated in the 2008 Port Huron Silver Stick tournament and was named to the Bantam All-Star team. In his final season with the Detroit Little Caesars, Trocheck posted 17 goals and 14 assists through 36 games. His performance in the 2009 state championship resulted in him being scouted by the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL. He was invited to see Game 3 of their first-round playoff series and was subsequently drafted by the Spirit in the 2009 OHL Priority Draft.
Upon signing with the Spirit in 2009, Trocheck reconnected with his former Pee-Wee teammate Brandon Saad in hopes of convincing him to commit to the team. Trocheck began his rookie season strong, tallying seven points through his first 10 games in the OHL. He spent the majority of his rookie season skating on the Spirit's third line, where he recorded 15 goals and 28 assists. At the conclusion of his rookie season, Trocheck received the Spirit's Fan Favorite Award.
After Saad signed with the Spirit in 2010, the two began the 2010–11 season on a line together. Through their first four games of the season, Trocheck tallied seven points while Saad added three goals. Following the teams first shutout loss of the season, Trocheck was moved onto the Spirit's second line with Josh Shalla. In their first game together, Trocheck assisted on each of Shalla's four goals in a 5-2 win over the Windsor Spitfires. By January, Trocheck was ranked 42nd amongst all draft-eligible OHL forwards and defensemen by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. He was also selected alongside Saad to compete for Team Orr at the 2011 CHL Top Prospects Game. On March 17, 2011, Trocheck recorded his 25th goal of the season in a 5-0 win over the Spitfires to help lead the Spirit to their first Western Conference division title in franchise history. In Game 6 of the Western Conference quarterfinals, Trocheck scored two goals to lead the Spirit over the Guelph Storm and onto their second Western Conference Semifinals series in franchise history. Trocheck finished the postseason with six goals and five assists for 11 points over 12 games. Leading up to the 2011 NHL entry draft, Trocheck was ranked 41st amongst all North American draft-eligible forwards and defensemen by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. He was eventually selected by the Florida Panthers in the third round of the draft, and attended their 2011 training camp. He was also drafted in the fifth round, 137th overall, by the Vityaz Chekhov in the KHL Junior Draft.
Upon graduating from high school, Trocheck began attending Northwood University while still competing for the Spirit. Trocheck returned to the Spirit's top line with Saad to start the 2011–12 season. Through his first 10 games, Trocheck ranked second on the team with six goals and three assists. On April 23, 2012, Trocheck was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Panthers. Although Trocheck did not finish the 2011–12 season on the Spirit's top line of Saad, Shalla, and Michael Fine, he still led the team with 29 goals and 56 assists.
Prior to the start of the 2012–13 season, Trocheck replaced Saad as team captain. On November 5, Trocheck tied the Saginaw Spirit career record for assists after recording one point in a loss to the Sarnia Sting. In a later game against the Sting on December 1, Trocheck moved into second place on the Spirit's all-time points list with 231 points. On January 10, 2013, Trocheck was traded to the Plymouth Whalers in exchange for Zach Bratina, a 2nd and 3rd round pick in the 2015 OHL Priority Selection and a 3rd round pick in 2016. At the time of the trade, Trocheck had secured the franchise record for most assists with 146 and was seven points shy of McDonough’s franchise record of 247 points. Through his 28 games with the Whalers, Trocheck recorded 26 goals and 33 assists for 59 points en route to the 2013 OHL playoffs. Trocheck was recognized as the OHL's Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season after setting numerous personal milestones. He became the first Whalers player in a decade to score 50 goals and overtook Sting forward Charles Sarault for the league lead in points. The league recognized Trocheck's efforts during the regular season by awarding him the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy and Red Tilson Trophy as the most outstanding player and league top scorer. Trocheck was also named to the 2012–13 OHL's First All-Star Team.
In Game 1 of the conference quarterfinals against the Sting, Trocheck recorded a hat-trick en route to an 11–2 win. Through their four-game series against Sarnia, Trocheck led the OHL in scoring with five goals and seven assists. He continued scoring at a rapid pace through the Whalers conference semifinals win over the Owen Sound Attack and conference finals loss against the London Knights. Trocheck finished the playoffs with 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points through 15 games.
In 2017, Trocheck became the first player in Spirit history to have his jersey number retired by the team.
After finishing the 2012–13 season with the Whalers, Trocheck attended the Florida Panthers' 2013 training camp. However, he was re-assigned to the Panthers American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, on September 25. He recorded his first professional point, an assist, on October 4 against the Chicago Wolves. Later that month, he scored his first two professional goals within six minutes of each other in a win over the Wolves on October 13. Trocheck quickly recorded nine goals and nine assists through his first 19 professional games with the Rampage. He led the team in scoring through the remainder of the year while playing alongside wingers Greg Rallo and Bobby Butler. Immediately following the conclusion of the NHL trade deadline, Trocheck was recalled to the NHL level on March 6, 2014. He made his NHL debut the following night on March 7, against the Buffalo Sabres, where he registered three shots on goal in 17:35 minutes of ice-time. He then scored his first NHL goal in his fifth NHL game against the New Jersey Devils on March 14. Trocheck finished the 2013–14 season with the Panthers recording five goals and three assists, while also leading all Panther forwards in ice time per game.
Following his rookie season, Trocheck again attended the Panthers training camp before being re-assigned to the AHL to start the 2014–15 season. He recorded two goals and four assists through eight games with the Rampage before being recalled to the NHL on October 31, 2014. Trocheck spent the majority of the season with the Panthers, recording seven goals and 15 assists through 50 games. He was re-assigned to the Rampage on April 13, 2015, to play out the remainder of the regular season in the AHL.
The 2015–16 season was Trocheck's first full season at the NHL level, as he had alternated between the AHL and NHL during the previous two seasons. Following an early season injury to forward Aleksander Barkov, Trocheck quickly began earning more on-ice responsibility and was moved to the team's top line. Through Barkov's 10-game absence, Trocheck recorded five goals and two assists for 13 points. Trocheck played in his 100th NHL game on December 12, 2015, against the Boston Bruins. After scoring six points over three games, Trocheck was recognized as the NHL's Third Star of the Week for the week ending on February 7. The following month, Trocheck was again recognized by the league after recording one goal and five assists over three games. During this period, he also reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his NHL career. However, shortly after tying Jaromír Jágr for the team lead in goals with 25, Trocheck injured his foot blocking a shot during a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He subsequently missed the remainder of the regular season but returned to the Panthers lineup for their 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs run. Trocheck made his postseason debut in Game 5 of the Panthers first-round series against the New York Islanders. He began the game centering the Panther's third-line before reuniting with his usual linemates in the second period. Although he earned an assist in Game 6, the Panthers fell to the Islanders in double overtime and were subsequently eliminated from playoff contention.