Rangers captain Jacob Trouba slams Barstool critics with tweet about Grayson Murray and suicide rates after being called a 'hypocritical scumbag' who 'sucks at hockey' on podcast

New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba has called out the Barstool Sports hockey podcast 'Spittin' Chiclets' - citing suicide statistics and the late Grayson Murray - after they criticized his play and delivered a low blow to his family. 

In a clip shared on social media back on May 31 - the day before the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs - podcast contributor Pasha Eshghi openly criticized Trouba for his poor play in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Florida Panthers. 

Eshghi called Trouba a 'hypocritical scumbag' who was only getting playing time because he was the captain of the team and was tied down to a huge contract. He also said that Rangers fans should be hoping that Trouba got suspended during the series so that he didn't have to play because he 'sucks at hockey'.

The contributor also blasted people for selecting Trouba as the recipient of the Mark Messier Leadership Award. 

Eshghi said: 'One of the reasons in the article that he won [the Messier award] it says "Trouba and his wife founded the Trouba Creative Expression Arts Program, which offers art services to adults with epilepsy and seizures."

'Well, you want to know the irony of the situation? Trouba's wife is a neuroscience major. Maybe Jacob should go home and get a lesson from his wife about the dangers of concussions that can lead to epilepsy and seizures before he goes around concussing guys on a daily basis being the dirtiest player in the league.

'It's insane the irony. It's like, "okay, you want to embrace the scumbag role? Fine." But the fact that they're parading him around as some sort of humanitarian is a joke. His agent or PR person should get a major raise for that.'

On Wednesday, Trouba responded to the criticism - citing, among other things, the tragic suicide of PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray.

'Suicide rates have doubled in the past 20 years in U.S. college athletes - @usnews,' Trouba wrote.

'11 days ago, a @PGATOUR golfer tragically took his own life after a mental health battle and people asked how that was possible. We must do better than this @spittinchiclets @peshghi @ryanwhitney6'

In a reply to that tweet, Trouba then oddly plugged his personal art website, saying, 'Painting is my outlet. For the next 30 days, proceeds from 24" print sales will be donated to @AthletesForHope.'

Grayson Murray died by suicide after playing in the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas just a few weeks ago.

Murray, who cited sickness, withdrew from the tournament and flew back from Texas to his home in Florida.

He then left the car running in the garage of his Palm Beach Gardens home and died due to carbon monoxide inhalation. 

Murray had been open about his struggles with mental health and alcohol in the past prior to his tragic death.

Trouba led the Rangers in penalty minutes with 22 throughout the playoffs and had a 0 plus/minus rating while averaging just short of 21 minutes of ice time per game.

He was also second amongst the team's defensemen in points with one goal and six assists for seven points in 16 playoff games.