Chris Drury has been active this trade deadline, and yesterday was no different. The Rangers made a pair of trades, sending Reilly Smith to Vegas for a 3rd round pick and prospect Brendan Brisson. They then flipped that 3rd round pick to Vancouver in the Carson Soucy trade. The Smith trade was expected, and the Soucy trade required a bit of a step back. As per usual, I have thoughts.
1. First things first, please take my initial reactions with a grain of salt. I barely slept the night before, and I was grumpy. I’m human.
On the Reilly Smith trade
2. With the Reilly Smith trade, the hope was to recoup the 2nd round pick given up to land him from Pittsburgh in the offseason. That was misguided, as timing impacts market value. The Rangers got three-quarters of a season from Smith before flipping him, and he was as advertised. He was a strong possession presence while chipping in offensively at 5v5. The lack of powerplay time impacted his point totals, which will lead some to believe it was a bust of a trade. It was not.
Smith was a solid Ranger. The return was fine, especially since the 3rd rounder was San Jose’s, and would have been the first pick in the 3rd round. That’s the same value as a middle or back-end 2nd round pick.
3. Don’t sleep on Brendan Brisson, but not in the traditional “sleeper” sense. He was a former 1st round pick in 2020, but he simply hasn’t cracked the NHL. Much like Matthew Robertson, his time may have passed to be a productive NHLer. If anything, he provides a 14/15F option for the Rangers and needed center depth in Hartford.
Brisson is NHL agent Pat Brisson’s son. Pat represents Jack Eichel. Let the soft tampering begin!
On the Carson Soucy trade
4. The Carson Soucy trade was a tad surprising. We knew the Rangers were looking for a minutes-eating left defenseman, even with Zac Jones playing well and the recent acquisition of Calvin de Haan. Drury wanted someone for next season, and the Carson Soucy trade gave them exactly that. The cost wasn’t that steep, flipping that 3rd rounder acquired in the Reilly Smith trade. Soucy has a year left at a very manageable $3.25 million. The deal is fine.
5. Some of the concern regarding the Carson Soucy trade is about Soucy’s horrible season this year. It’s an absolute disaster for him, much like everyone in Vancouver and, funny enough, New York.
When looking at his prior three seasons, Soucy is perfectly fine as a top-four defenseman. His usage has always been that of a top-four defenseman, and his last two years have produced solid defensive numbers. The hope is this year is a blip. Given the drama in Vancouver, that checks out.
6. Usage matters, and that’s at the heart of the Carson Soucy trade. In Vancouver, he’s been miscast as a defensive zone start heavy player matching up against top competition. Much like Jacob Trouba’s time with the Rangers, this isn’t playing to Soucy’s strengths. Given K’Andre Miller and Will Borgen get the lion’s share of defensive zone starts, it’s expected Soucy will line up with Adam Fox when he returns.
For what it’s worth, Fox normally gets mostly offensive zone starts. This would help Soucy a bit, and would give Fox a more stable defense partner.
7. Rumor has it that JT Miller gave Soucy a call almost immediately after the Reilly Smith trade to convince Soucy to waive his no-move clause. He has a young family, so the Carson Soucy trade may not have happened without Miller.
8. With the Carson Soucy trade, the Rangers are poised to go into next season with a top four of Soucy-Fox and Miller-Borgen. The third pair is likely one of Jones (if he’s still with the Rangers) or Urho Vaakanainen and Braden Schneider. Not bad. Replacing Lindgren and Trouba with Soucy and Borgen is fine work.
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