The New York Islanders and New York Rangers teamed up for a trade on Monday, as the Islanders acquired defenseman Carson Soucy from the Rangers for a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
The Rangers had just brought in Soucy in a trade last year, and they recouped their asset with this deal, sending the 31-year-old from Manhattan to Long Island.
Soucy will help fill the void left by Alexander Romanov’s injury for Patrick Roy’s squad, providing some size and physicality to the blue line.
On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed why now was the right time for Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche to pounce on a move to upgrade his roster.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I do think we’ll see a little uptick in the trade activity as we head toward the Olympic roster freeze next Thursday… If you have a veteran that you’re looking to ship off, there’s some incentive to doing it now. Also, I do think Hutts, there’s a little bit of doing right by the player… If you’re a guy in the league, would you rather get traded before this Olympic break so you have more time to get settled, or would you rather get traded after it so it doesn’t disrupt the trip to Cancun in the middle?
Carter Hutton: “I think you go both ways, right? Like maybe you have a free mind, or maybe it messes up your break. But for Carson Soucy, he’s not going far. I know he has a young family. So I think this is a solid time to make this move. Where it goes from here, I think it’s a really good point bringing up that Olympic break is looming and it’s coming quick, right?
“And I think for the New York Rangers, this is trying to be proactive. I don’t think this is where it stops with this team. And just like that, with the New York Islanders, I think this is a shot in the arm for the team, saying that, ‘Where we’re at, we’re happy. We’ve over exceeded expectations thus far, but, let’s not stop here, too.’ In the Eastern conference, where just getting a seat at the table might be enough, and when you’re getting goaltending, like they’re getting, they’ve got a shot against anybody in a seven-game series.”
Tyler Yaremchuk: “I don’t think you go and acquire a guy like Carson Soucy, who is a 4-5-6 kind of defenseman – I don’t think you go give up a third-round pick for that guy if you plan on just standing pat for the rest of the deadline period. Like, I look at this Islanders team, and maybe they are recognizing what you just said. And this is a little bit of what we talked about yesterday, even with a team like Pittsburgh. If you’re looking around that Metro and you’re the New York Islanders or Pittsburgh, are you sitting there maybe going, ‘We have a legit chance at winning a playoff round. And if you win one, who knows what can happen.’ And if you have Ilya Sorokin playing at the level he’s at, teams might be a little scared of you. I’m saying all of this as I don’t think they’re going to be done.
“Like I went into this year saying Mathieu Darche has a lot of leash, right? He is a first-time GM getting a look at a team that just picked first overall and got Matthew Schaefer. There’s some runway here for him to not necessarily be overly aggressive.”
Carter Hutton: “Yeah, I think that’s where they’re at. As you look at guys that could potentially go out, like Anders Lee and JJ Pageau. Now, maybe they just become your rentals. I think Anders Lee has a bias of staying on the Island. When you think of Anders Lee, you think of the Islanders. So I don’t think he’s going to come back and demand a ton of money like he probably wants to finish his career there. So there is value there.
“And I also think there’s going to be pressure coming from a head coach who demands excellence, who wants to win. We’ve seen Patty Roy going in and demanding a trade for himself. Maybe he’s going in demanding for a trade to beef up his team because I do think we talk about this a lot. And I think on the other side of it is, not making the playoffs and getting a better pick and help. But just getting a seat in there and getting some revenue for your organization and experience has so much value as well on the shoulders of a young Matthew Schaefer, who’s been unbelievable, too. So there is a lot of good going on in New York Islanders.”
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…
