Top 25 Under 25: #21 Zach Trotman

Zach Trotman

#89 (Camp Number) / D / Boston Bruins

Height: 6-3
Weight: 216
Born: Aug 26, 1990
2012-2013 Numbers: Providence: 2-14-16, 48GP
2012-2013 NHLe: 0.15ppg

Zach Trotman kicked off the first full season of his professional career with Providence last year, scoring two goals and 14 assists for 16 total points in the regular season. He struggled with several injuries mid-season - including a concussion sustained in a game against Bridgeport that kept him out for a month. Trotman sat for the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs, and was only slotted in once Matt Bartkowski was called up to the NHL. When healthy, last year's AHL squad was pretty deep, defensively.

The consensus about Trotman from the coaching staff is this: he has great size, a great point shot, but he still occasionally makes decisions that lead to crucial breakdowns on the blueline. Fortunately for the Bruins, this is something he can work on going forward, and there seems to be a good deal of hope that Trotman can develop into another big, smart, rangy blueliner at the NHL level.

What would make that extra great: Trotman was "Mr. Irrelevant" in the 2010 NHL draft, selected with a pick acquired from Chicago in exchange for Boston's own 7th-round pick the following year. Were Trotman to make the NHL in the coming years, he'd join such auspicious names as Paul Maurice, Jonathan Ericsson, Kim Johnsson, and Nashville's Patric Hornqvist.

Chiarelli "traded up" to acquire Trotman, rather than waiting to sign him as a college free agent or allowing another team to select him in the draft the following year. Clearly, the Bruins scouting staff saw something they liked.

Our Rankings:

(N/A denotes that the player fell outside that individual's Top 25 ranking)

Dan brought down the rankings. Nice job, Dan. Trotman cracked many of our top 20 rankings; the Bruins have said that they're happy with Trotman's learning curve so far down in Providence. With the departure of Cohen and the promotion of Torey Krug and perhaps Matt Bartkowski, Trotman has an opportunity this coming year to get a significantly increased amount of ice time. Indeed, without Krug and Bartkowski, Trotman has the highest PPG of any remaining defenseman, which will be very important for a young Providence team next year - especially if he can stay healthy for the full season.