With the NHL Trade Deadline less than a day away, the New York Rangers have made another move of the day by acquiring defenseman from the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Earlier that day, the Rangers had obtained that same pick from the Vegas Golden Knights, along with center prospect, in a trade that sent veteran forward Reilly Smith to Vegas. The pick originally belonged to the San Jose Sharks, meaning it holds more value as it falls near the second round due to the Sharks’ low position in the standings.
Essentially, Rangers GM Chris Drury brought in Carson Soucy and Brendan Brisson while moving on from Smith, a pending unrestricted free agent the team had no plans to re-sign this offseason.
Soucy, a 6-foot-5, 208-pound left-shot defenseman, isn’t just a rental. The 30-year-old has one more year remaining on his three-year contract, which carries a $3.25 million annual cap hit.
Despite a down season, reflected in his minus-13 plus/minus rating, Soucy became expendable for Vancouver after they acquired and extended defenseman Marcus Pettersson from Pittsburgh. Soucy has logged an NHL career-high 18:22 average ice time across 59 games this season, tallying 10 points (three goals, seven assists) and 42 penalty minutes. He also ranked second on the Canucks with 92 blocked shots and fifth with 86 hits.
A veteran of 349 NHL games, Soucy has prior connections with some Rangers players. He was teammates with J.T. Miller for two seasons in Vancouver and played alongside Will Borgen with the Seattle Kraken from 2021-23. Borgen arrived in New York through a December trade that sent Kaapo Kakko to Seattle.
The Soucy acquisition marks the Rangers’ sixth trade of the season and their third in the past week leading up to Friday’s deadline. Recently, the team also acquired defenseman Calvin de Haan, center Juuso Parssinen, and two draft picks from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Jimmy Vesey—both of whom, like Smith, were pending UFAs the Rangers had no intention of re-signing.
Rangers Now Stacked with Left-Shot Defensemen
Soucy is the fourth defenseman added by the Rangers this season, joining Borgen, de Haan, and Urho Vaakanainen. With K’Andre Miller and Zac Jones already on the roster, the team now has an excess of left-shot defensemen.
Drury envisions Soucy as a key part of the blue line for the remainder of this season and next. Miller, a pending RFA with arbitration rights, is expected to receive a significant raise this summer but remains a core piece moving forward. Meanwhile, Vaakanainen and Jones will also be RFAs at season’s end, while de Haan is an unrestricted free agent unlikely to stay.
Once Adam Fox returns from injured reserve, the right side of the defense seems set with him, Borgen, and Braden Schneider, though the recent recall of Chad Ruhwedel from AHL Hartford raises some questions.
It’s worth noting that Soucy, along with Jones, Vaakanainen, and de Haan, has experience playing on the right side, giving the Rangers some flexibility.
With the deadline approaching, could Drury make another move, perhaps flipping de Haan now that Soucy is in the fold? Or might Jones, who has spent much of the season as a healthy scratch, be the odd man out? Two months ago, Jones even hinted he might request a trade.
Some clarity could emerge by the 3 p.m. ET deadline, or when head coach Peter Laviolette addresses the media and discusses his defensive lineup plans.
