The Vancouver Canucks are ready to move off one of their regular blueliners.
The club has made Carson Soucy available for trade per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on The FAN Hockey Show. The report comes after the Canucks made the left-handed defenceman a healthy scratch on Sunday.
“He got scratched the other night, and I think they’ve let people know he’d be available.”
The club’s left side of their defence suddenly looks crowded after a busy weekend of trades. Quinn Hughes occupies the top spot, and new acquisition Marcus Pettersson is another legitimate top-four option.
Soucy could slot into the third pair, but he faces plenty of competition from players like Derek Forbort and a rising rookie in Elias Pettersson. Both Forbort and Elias Pettersson have shown more than Soucy this year, although the latter only has three NHL games under his belt.
The Canucks opted to healthy scratch Soucy last game in what was explained as a “coach’s decision.” The 20-year-old Pettersson played extremely well in his spot and has been impressive for a rookie.
Soucy was a reliable option last season and stepped up in the postseason, forming a shutdown pair with Tyler Myers. The Canucks outscored opponents 21-18 in the five-on-five minutes he played across his 40 regular season games last year. This year, the team is being outscored 32-24 in his minutes across 51 games. Many of his stats have experienced a similar decrease.
The 30-year-old is in the second year of a three-year contract where he makes $3.25 million per season. He hasn’t lived up to that number this season, and that’s money the team could use to help address a bigger need, such as grabbing another top-six centre.
There are some barriers to a Soucy deal. He has a full no-trade clause this season and a 12-team no-trade list next year. This means he has full control over his destiny for now. While this makes a trade more difficult, it’s not impossible, as the recently traded J.T. Miller had a no-movement clause.
It’s unlikely that Soucy will be able to fetch a big return, considering his age, contract, and performance this year. However, freeing up that money would help the Canucks make further moves.
The Canucks have turned their focus to acquiring a top-six centre. It’s the organization’s priority per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. Some of the names that have been rumoured to be linked to the Canucks include Buffalo Sabres’ centre Dylan Cozens and Ottawa Senators centre Josh Norris.