New Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba, acquired from Winnipeg in June for Neal Pionk and a No. 1 draft pick, talks with The Post’s Steve Serby about his new team, opening against his old team, the Jets, and the scary injury he suffered his rookie season.

Q: What would you tell Rangers fans about the kind of player they should expect to be watching?

A: I think I try my best to play the game the right way. I don’t try to cheat the game ever. I take my responsibility as a defenseman … first and foremost. There’s an added offensive ability that will come when it comes, I don’t really go out searching for it or any of that. My job is to play defense, I take a lot of pride in breaking the puck out of the zone and making a good first pass, and when I have the opportunity to jump in the play or contribute offensively I will, but that’s not the starting point of my game. My game starts with my legs and when I’m skating is when I’m at my best.

Q: Your on-ice mentality.

A: I’m pretty levelheaded. If something goes terribly wrong, I don’t really dwell on it; if something goes great, I don’t really think I’m the greatest thing in the world. I kinda let things roll off my back, good or bad, as much as I can. When I get too fired up, I’ll make mistakes, and obviously if you’re not engaged in the game high enough, you’re gonna make lazy plays and lazy errors. So I kinda I try to find that middle ground and stay there. I’m pretty good at it now, I think. I don’t really lose my mind too much out there.

Q: I watched a video of you absolutely splattering somebody when you were, like, 12 years old.

A: That was in Sweden. That was when I couldn’t really control my temper, which I’ve gotten a little better at (chuckle).

Q: Did you have a temper growing up?

A: On the ice I did. It was more of a get-even temper (chuckle) which wasn’t great to have, which I’ve worked on and got better at.

Q: The Bread Man (Artemi Panarin)?

A: When he first started, he reminded everyone of just kind of a Patrick Kane type. Then his game I feel like, has evolved a lot to be a lot more than that. He’s very elusive, he’s kinda like a (Johnny) Gaudreau, where you can’t really hit him. If you kinda go at him, he has the ability to go right around you or pass the puck around you. A lot of guys you take away time and space. Him, you almost have to kinda get him to slow down, like put him on pause and let him kinda make a play and get the puck out of his hands is almost the better option, which is weird (chuckle).

Q: Kaapo Kakko?

A: He’s a really good player. He’s big, but he makes smart plays, I feel like. He has the ability to make very skilled plays, but he knows the time to do them. He doesn’t make unnecessary risk plays, which I think is really special for someone of his age and his skill level. He plays the game right. He’s hard along the boards.

Q: Hank (Henrik Lundqvist)?

A: What kind of not shocked me, but almost blew me away, is his work ethic and how hard he works in practice, after practice, before practice. He gives you everything he’s got in practice, he battles every drill. He’s always watching more after practice, which you don’t always see with goalies, especially ones who are as established as he is. He’s still continuing to, I guess, master being a goalie.

Q: Coach David Quinn?

A: A very fair coach. He communicates really well with his players. If you’re not up to par or you’re not doing something the right way, he’ll tell you, which I think is a good quality to have in a coach, respectable, you know where you stand. We play a different type of system than I’ve ever played or (been) used to, and he’s helped me a lot just kind of adjusting.

Q: What do you like best about this team?

A: I like the energy around the room, the smiles. Everybody gets along so well and is happy. I think we have a lot of fun, which you need to have, especially going through a long season. You don’t really know how everything’s going until the season gets going. Everybody’s got a plan ’til you get punched in the mouth kinda thing, see how everybody responds and what kind of a team we really have.

Q: Rangers fans?

A: The people that I’ve seen throughout the city that have recognized me have been really nice.

Q: How do you look back on your career in Winnipeg?

A: I enjoyed my time there, and I grew up a lot there. Made a lot of really close friends within the team and outside the team. A lot of fun. I don’t really regret anything I ever did there. The contract stuff is the contract stuff. I don’t have any hard feelings towards Winnipeg or anything. I really enjoyed my time there.

Q: You’re opening against the Jets.

A: It’s gonna be different playing against them, I guess. But at the end of the day, it’s another hockey game. It’s kinda nice, I guess, playing them the first game ’cause you know some more tendencies of the guys you’ve been practicing against for the last six years, so that might help me a bit. But yeah, once the game starts, it’s just another game.

Q: The biggest obstacle or adversity you’ve had to overcome?

A: I would probably say my neck injury my first year (on Oct. 18, 2013, against the Blues). I just kinda felt like I was getting my feet under me, things were going pretty well, and that was definitely a scary injury. I’ve never really been hurt like that. That could have been much worse than it was, which kinda opened your eyes and realize you’re here and how lucky you are to play. I always appreciated playing, but to be that close to almost having everything gone was pretty scary.

Q: Did you know right away that it was serious?

A: Not really. I was kind of shock of just kinda what happened. I mean, I knew something was wrong, but I felt OK. I didn’t want to move ’cause I kinda knew something was up. But I was all there mentally and I was never like knocked out or anything. But yeah, me watching replays of it, and doing the whole stretcher off the ice and all that stuff, be in the neck brace a little over a month … yeah, just to go through that kinda gives you appreciation for what you have.

Q: The diagnosis was the next day?

A: That night I went to the hospital. I don’t think I got an MRI that night, I think I got one the next morning, just to let stuff kinda settle down. I just ended up tearing ligaments in my neck, which was good. There was nothing actually seriously wrong.

Q: What happened on the play?

A: Someone rimmed the puck, and I misjudged how fast the puck was going. And (the Blues’) Jordan Leopold was just getting the puck, and I went to go like push him, and I caught the back of his skate with my foot, and I missed his body and just went headfirst into the boards.

Q: Do you remember anything as you were carried off?

A: Yeah I told ’em I could get up, they were just like, “No, we gotta be careful, do everything kinda by the book to make sure nothing seriously wrong.” I remember that, I remember the ride in the ambulance was crazy bumpy (chuckle), I was a little sore hitting bumps. I didn’t stay overnight. They kinda put me in a brace and went home and (chuckle) tried to figure out how to live life in a neck brace for a while.

Q: What was it like returning to the ice a little over a month later?

A: Looking back on it, could have been a pretty catastrophic thing. I’ve never really looked back on it with any fear or anything, it was just kind of a freak thing that happened, and I got lucky.

Q: If you could pick the brain of any player in NHL history?

A: Probably Nick Lidstrom hockey-wise, just growing up in Detroit. He could almost pick you apart tactically.

Q: When did you have this NHL dream?

A: I grew up playing with Al Iafrate’s son Max at (Detroit) Compuware. I was probably in sixth grade, seventh grade. I wasn’t really great, I was a little chubby kid. But my dad would take me to skates with Al and some of our Compuware buddies, mostly defensemen would go skate with him. And one day he pulled me and my dad aside and told me that I had a chance to make it. I really didn’t think anything of it at the time, I kinda just let it roll off my back a little bit, I didn’t really care. But looking back on it, with who he is, that was a pretty cool moment, I guess. I never really thought I had a chance until colleges came talking to me and my goal was always to get a college scholarship, and nothing really more than that at the time.

Q: What made you choose Michigan?

A: I visited Michigan and Notre Dame, those were the only two I was really interested in, going in. I just felt more comfortable at Michigan. I felt like it was a little more fun atmosphere, I could grow up a little more. It was kinda “you’re on your own, go figure out life” kinda thing.

Q: Best Michigan moment?

A: Being the first freshman All-American in the history of Michigan hockey was something that I had never, like, set out to do or anything.

Q: Best NHL moment?

A: Obviously my first goal is something I’ll always remember. The playoff run we (Winnipeg) went on (in the 2017-18 season) to go to the Western Conference Finals was a good memory. Scoring the third goal to tie the game (Game 3, second round) when we came back against Nashville in Winnipeg, that was probably the loudest I’ve ever heard a rink. I’ll probably never forget that one. There’s so many good memories and experiences already, and now I’m here and this is a whole new world for me. I’m gonna create more memories here that will last forever too.

Q: How heartbreaking was it not getting the chance to win the Cup?

A: Yeah, it was hard. You never really realize how hard the playoffs are until you do it. Especially you get through one round and then it’s just like a whole new energy, a whole new excitement, everything kinda ramps up. And then you get through another round and then it’s the real deal, you’re playing hockey, it’s warm outside, people are going nuts. I’ve never played hockey that late into the season. Just driving to the rink was crazy, getting home was crazy. Every play is so important that it’s kinda just a new level, a different game. It’s fun to be part of. When you can’t take a shift or a play off ’cause everybody’s that dialed in, that’s a pretty fun environment to play in.

Q: The first time you played at Madison Square Garden?

A: It was actually in college, we played Cornell … and got smoked (laugh). That wasn’t very fun.

Q: Anything stand out about playing there for the first time?

A: The biggest thing I remember when I was walking through, like with Winnipeg, is just walking through the hallway out to the rink from the locker room there’s pictures of everybody that’s performed there and had concerts and you just kinda think of all the different people that have walked through this hallway to kinda get out to the rink or the stage or whatever it is. It’s a kinda sacred place, I guess, and now that it’s home, it’s even kinda cooler.

Q: Any favorite New York City things yet?

A: There’s just so many restaurants that I’ve tried that I have enjoyed. I like wandering over to the West Side Highway with the dog and just walk along the water.

Q: What drives you?

A: It’s important, yes I want to win, but there’s a bigger drive of success and how you get there putting in the work and I guess how you plan to get from point A to point B. That’s kinda what drives me, is the process to get there and the work you put in every day. And just knowing that the overall goal is there for your loved ones, for all the people you care about in the world, your teammates.

Q: Your fiancée, Kelly?

A: I went off to Winnipeg and she went to Australia to do her master’s degree, and we kinda went separate ways and grew up and found a way back to each other. And we still to this day have our goals that we want to accomplish and we decided a couple of years ago we were gonna make it work for both of us, so we kinda set out on that journey and that path, and hopefully we are close to making it happen. She’s in medical school (in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) right now, she’s doing her rotations right now, then hopefully she will be here doing her residency in New York.

Q: Your dog, Donny?

A: He’s half Husky, half Pomeranian. I wanted to make a decision in my life to have some responsibility and something that I really loved and cared for and wanted to take care of, so that kinda helped me. Wherever I am, he’s with me. I live in Florida in the summers, so he comes from there. He’s very mischievous if he doesn’t get enough exercise. He’s very smart, he’s curious, he is playful, but he has a big personality, which I love. He doesn’t just lay around all day, he’s always wanted to be in the action. He’ll jump right on ya and give you no choice but to let him (chuckle).

Q: How’s your golf game?

A: High 70s, low 80s.

Q: Three dinner guests?

A: My great grandparents on my mom’s side that I never met; Jimi Hendrix.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: “Billy Madison.”

Q: Favorite actor?

A: Bradley Cooper.

Q: Favorite actress?

A: Margot Robbie.

Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?

A: Taylor Swift.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: Pan-seared or a king salmon.

Q: Career goals?

A: Obviously everybody wants to have a long career, longevity is a hard thing to do. Obviously everybody plays the game to win a Stanley Cup.