New York Rangers trade grades after acquiring Carson Soucy from Vancouver Canucks
Less than a week after trading away defenseman Ryan Lindgren, the New York Rangers filled his skates by acquiring Carson Soucy in pre trade-deadline deal with the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
The Soucy trade was made more possible by a move the Rangers made a few hours prior, when they dealt forward Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and forward prospect Brendan Brisson.
The Rangers then flipped that third-rounder, which is the San Jose Sharks pick so will be among the first selections of the that round, to the Canucks for Soucy, who plays a similar game to Lindgren, though come in a much bigger package (6-foot-5, 208 pounds).
The 30-year-old has played 349 NHL games with the Minnesota Wild, Seattle Kraken and Canucks; he was teammates in Seattle with Rangers defenseman Will Borgen and Vancouver with forward J.T. Miller.
Related: NHL Trade Deadline — Chris Drury executing multi-faceted game plan for Rangers
Grading Rangers trade with Canucks for Carson Soucy
Members of the Forever Blueshirts staff analyze and grade the Rangers trade to acquire defenseman Carson Soucy from the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Jim Cerny – Executive Editor – Grade: B+
You can’t grade this trade in a vacuum. You must factor in the the Smith trade too, because that’s where this third-round pick to acquire Soucy came from. Really, it was all very well executed by Drury. The Rangers land a big, physical defenseman with a solid pedigree — though in the midst of a so-so season — who’s not a rental. So, Soucy is part of the Rangers plan in the top four of their defense corps the rest of this season and next, and an affordable one at that ($3.25 million AAV). Nice. Even nicer is that ultimately it cost them only an unrestricted free agent whom they had zero interest in retaining (Smith). Assuming K’Andre Miller re-signs as an RFA this summer, that’s two sturdy left-shot d-men in the top four — though if you were hoping for a Jakob Chychrun signing in the offseason, this probably wipes that out. All in all, well done by the Rangers, who immediately improve on the ice and remain positioned financially to be major players in free agency this summer.
John Kreiser – Senior Writer – Grade: B+
Drury made a nice move bringing in Soucy, a big shutdown defenseman who should make life a little easier for Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick. The 30-year-old isn’t much of a scorer (three goals and 10 points in 59 games with the Vancouver Canucks this season), but was second on the Canucks with 92 blocked shots and fifth with 86 hits – one of 18 players in the League with 90+ blocks and 85+ hits. Think of him as a replacement for Lindgren.
Even better is that Soucy is not a rental. He has another season left on a three-year contract — unlike Lindgren, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and wasn’t going to be resigned by the Rangers. Drury also got him for basically nothing – the price was the third-round pick he obtained from the Golden Knights a few hours earlier for Smith, another pending UFA who wasn’t going to be re-signed. Soucy isn’t a star, but he can play up and down the lineup – he was paired with another of this season’s acquisitions, Borgen, when they were with the Kraken together. The trade does two things: It improves the roster this season as the Rangers push for a playoff spot, and gives them a good player who will be around for at least one more season.
Tom Castro – Staff Writer – Grade: A
Drury made a sneaky-good move in acquiring the big defenseman Soucy from the Canucks for the third-round pick acquired in the Smith trade. Looking to replace the gritty presence of the departed Lindgren, the Rangers general manager added a 6-foot-5, 208-pound left-shot defender who plays a downright nasty game at times. Soucy provides so much of what the Rangers are desperate for: Physicality in his own zone, and the strength and size to keep the front of his net clear, while playing with constant edge and compete level in puck battles.
Soucy is signed through next season at a reasonable salary-cap hit, keeping this acquisition in line with Drury’s desire to avoid giving up assets for rental properties as he looks to remake the team for the near future. Soucy’s arrival also fits the GM’s mission to transform the Rangers into a tougher group. The fifth-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft could be paired with Adam Fox when he returns from his upper-body injury, or reunited with Borgen, with whom Soucy paired for 109 games during their time with the Kraken. Drury has procured strong value here for a third-round pick, albeit one that’s expected to be high in that round because it originally belonged to the Sharks.
Dane Walsh – Staff Writer – Grade: B
Trading Smith was another housekeeping move by Drury. The Rangers were not going to re-sign him, so rather than letting him walk in the summer for no return, they sent him back to the Golden Knights where he won the Stanley Cup in 2023. Drury then flips the 3rd rounder in the return for Soucy, which fills a hole on defense. The Rangers really needed a left shot on the back end. They also get Brisson who is an intriguing prospect from Vegas. Brisson was incredible at the University of Michigan, but has yet to become a consistent NHL player. With 19 points in 45 AHL games this season, he’ll provide a nice boost to the Hartford Wolf Pack as he continues to develop. He’ll definitely be a prospect to keep an eye on heading into next season. The Rangers get a good return for Smith, but what’s more intriguing is what comes next. They now have a plethora of defenseman on the roster, which makes me think a bigger move for a top-3 defenseman is next.
More About:New York Rangers News