A lot has changed since Trocheck left South Florida almost six years ago.

On the ice, he switched teams again, signing a seven-year contract with the Rangers on July 13, 2022. He had his best NHL season in 2023-24 with 77 points (25 goals, 52 assists), helping the Rangers get to the Eastern Conference Final. He played for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off last season and is a candidate to represent his country in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Trocheck has 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 25 games this season.

Off the ice, he and his wife Hillary had a second child, Lennon, who was born eight months after he was traded to Carolina. He moved to New York and now Leo is playing minor hockey in the area.

But none of that matters to Trocheck every time he returns to Florida. He always has the same emotion, and he will again when the Rangers go there for the Winter Classic after playing in Washington on New Year’s Eve.

“My son was there for the first two years of his life,” Trocheck said. “He was born in Pittsburgh but he was raised there for the first couple of years of his life. We go back to see where we lived. It just brings back some nostalgia a little bit. That part of it will be fun and special. There are very few guys left on the team that were there when I was there, but a lot of the staff is still there. I always enjoy when we go back and I’m able to see the staff I was with for a long time. It is nostalgic going back there and it’ll obviously be different being that it’s an outdoor game in Miami as opposed to Sunrise.”

To Trocheck’s point, the only Panthers players who remain from his time in the organization are center Aleksander Barkov, defenseman Aaron Ekblad and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

Those three have been part of the core that has led Florida to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships after a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023.

It’s quite different from what Trocheck experienced. The Panthers made the Stanley Cup Playoffs once in his time with them. He played two games in 2016 and they were eliminated in six games by the New York Islanders in the first round.

And now they’re getting the outdoor game they all never thought would be possible.

“It’s great for hockey obviously having another hockey market and I feel like they’ve brought so much excitement there when it comes to hockey,” Trocheck said. “The youth programs there are much better now. I think (Panthers owner) Vinny Viola has just done a great job of turning it into what it is today. I’m very happy for them obviously, the staff down there and the friends I still have on that team. But, for me, you leave a team and then they win a couple Cups, it’s not always fun. I’m still happy for the people that I was with down there.”