Rangers On Verge of Trading Veteran Defender to Islanders

If the trade goes through, it would be the first deal between the Rangers and Islanders since 2010.

Soucy was acquired by the Rangers midway through last season from the Vancouver Canucks. He has played 62 games in New York and tallied four goals and 11 assists, including three goals and five assists through 46 games this season. Overall, he has appeared in 411 games over the course of an eight-year NHL career. He was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the fifth round of the 2013 NHL Draft and spent the first four years of his career there before moving to the Seattle Kraken in 2021. After two seasons in Seattle, he moved just a couple of hours north to Vancouver.

The Rangers Are Getting Set for a Retool

It’s no secret the Rangers have endured a disappointing couple of seasons in the immediate aftermath of winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2022-23. With the team at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, Rangers general manager Chris Drury addressed fans in a media statement on Jan. 16, stating that in order to bring a Stanley Cup back to Madison Square Garden, the franchise would have to move on from some beloved players.

“With our position in the standings and injuries to key players this season, we must be honest and realistic about our situation,” Drury said. “We are not going to stand pat — a shift will give us the ability to be smart and opportunistic as we retool the team. This will not be a rebuild. This will be a retool built around our core players and prospects. We will target players that bring tenacity, skill, speed and a winning pedigree, with a focus on obtaining young players, draft picks and cap space to allow us flexibility moving forward. That may mean saying goodbye to players who have brought us and our fans great moments over the years. These players represented the Rangers with pride and class and will always be a part of our family.”

The first domino to fall in the new retool was the report that the team would not be offering star forward Artemi Panarin a contract extension. It appears the next move could be sending Soucy to the Islanders, if the current reporting holds true. At this time, the trade is not official, nor has a return been announced.

The Rangers are set to match up with the surging Boston Bruins at 7 p.m. EST at Madison Square Garden in New York City.