The Vancouver Canucks have made headlines all season with their controversy including a rift in the locker room between teammates J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson that ultimately resulted in Miller being dealt to the Rangers in one of many deals the Canucks made to regain stability.
After trading away several players, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Tuesday that the Vancouver Canucks have made defenceman Carson Soucy available for a trade.
Vancouver is listed at -148 to make the playoffs despite losing their last two games without J.T. Miller and could look to continue making moves to help lift them back into a playoff spot. They currently sit two points behind the Flames, who have also been making trades to push for the playoffs.
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Soucy, a 30-year-old Alberta product, enters his seventh NHL season and is coming off a solid campaign last season where he played meaningful minutes and was a crucial part of the Canucks backend with an average time on ice at 17:29 which was fifth-most for Canucks defenceman. He’s played a bigger role this season due to the amount of injuries on the Canucks blue line and has seen his minutes jump to 19 through 51 games played.
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When speaking with Canucks Insider for the Hockey News, Adam Kierszenblat, he spoke to the kind of player Soucy is and how well-liked he is.
“Soucy is a solid defensive defenceman who is just having a tough season. He is very well liked in the locker room and a general good guy,” Kierszenblat said.
He also noted it’ll be tough to move Soucy without his consent as he has a no-trade clause. Kierszenblat went on to expand on the recent trade rumors with Soucy and what kind of player the Canucks would like look to add in a potential trade.
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“The Canucks want to add more depth up front and also need some extra help on the blue line but the focus seems to be up front,” he said “Ottawa’s Josh Norris seems to be a player they want as he was roomates with [Quinn] Hughes in college. That’s the name to watch.”
The Senators are in the heat of a playoff race as they are currently third in the Atlantic Division with a 29-20-4 record and the Red Wings, Bolts and Bruins chasing right behind them. Ottawa could look to move on from Norris as he’s been plagued with injuries for some time, including a mid-body injury that currently has him listed as week-to-week.
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Vancouver is tied for 20th in goals per game with a 2.83 average so a trade for someone like Norris to help strengthen their forward group certainly isn’t out of the question.
Ottawa is a heavy favorite to make the playoffs at -530 and have a very high over/under for regular season points set at 96.5 which could be a favorable bet as they should get back star goaltender Linus Ullmark soon. The Senators also have the fourth-easiest remaining strength of schedule, according to Tankathon.
