Islanders Make Rare Trade With Rangers, Add Carson Soucy for Playoff Push
It’s not every day you see the New York Islanders and New York Rangers doing business together-especially not with the stakes this high. But on Monday, the two rivals pulled off just their fourth trade since the Islanders joined the league in 1972.
The deal? Veteran defenseman Carson Soucy heads to Long Island in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick.
This move says a lot about where each franchise stands right now.
The Rangers, who were just in the Eastern Conference Final in 2024, are clearly shifting into sell mode. The teardown is already underway-Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider have been shipped off to Anaheim, and it looks like Artemi Panarin could be next. It’s a significant pivot for a team that, not long ago, looked like a perennial contender.
Meanwhile, the Islanders are trending in the opposite direction. After winning the draft lottery and selecting top prospect Matthew Schaefer first overall, they’ve seen an immediate impact.
Schaefer’s arrival has energized the team, and with a 28-19-5 record, they currently sit third in the Metropolitan Division. That’s a playoff position, and it’s clear they’re gearing up for a run.
Soucy, 31, isn’t a flashy pickup, but he’s the kind of depth piece that can make a difference in the postseason. He brings size, experience, and a steady presence on the blue line.
While his numbers this season-three goals and eight points in 46 games-don’t jump off the page, he’s shown in the past (notably with a 10-goal, 21-point campaign in 2021-22) that he can contribute when needed. For the Islanders, it’s a low-risk move that adds stability to their defensive corps.
Oilers Defencemen Make NHL History With Back-to-Back Hat Tricks
It’s been a wild week for Edmonton’s blue line-and not in the way we’re used to talking about defencemen.
On Monday night, Mattias Ekholm netted his first career hat trick in a 7-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks, sealing it with an empty-netter. Just two nights earlier, Evan Bouchard exploded for a hat trick and a six-point game.
That’s not just impressive-it’s historic. This marks the first time in NHL history that two defencemen from the same team have scored hat tricks in back-to-back games.
Let that sink in. In a league that’s been around for over a century, no one’s ever seen this before.
To put it in perspective, the last time an Oilers defenceman had a hat trick was more than 20 years ago. That was Marc-André Bergeron, who scored all three of Edmonton’s goals in a 5-3 loss to the Senators. Since then, the Oilers have had their share of offensive dynamos-but not from the back end like this.
And the records didn’t stop there. On Monday, the Oilers also set a new mark by scoring the four fastest goals by defencemen in league history.
Ekholm potted two, Darnell Nurse added one, and Spencer Stastney scored his first as an Oiler-all within a span of just 3 minutes and 49 seconds. That’s only the sixth time in NHL history a team has gotten four goals from its defencemen in a single game, and the first time it’s happened since November 2000.
Still, despite the fireworks, Edmonton hasn’t quite looked like the powerhouse team we’ve seen the past two seasons. In fact, they’re the only team in the league yet to put together a three-game winning streak. So while the blue line is lighting it up, the Oilers still have some consistency issues to sort out.
Kings-Blue Jackets Game Postponed Due to Major Storm
The NHL’s schedule hit its first weather-related snag of the season on Monday, as the league postponed the game between the Los Angeles Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets due to a massive storm sweeping across much of North America.
The storm’s reach has been significant-stretching from northern Mexico all the way to eastern Canada and impacting large portions of the eastern United States. Given the scope and severity, the league made the call to push the game to March 9.
This marks the first postponement of the 2025-26 season. Last year saw two games postponed, including one involving the Kings and Calgary Flames due to wildfires in South Carolina.
For the Blue Jackets, the rescheduled game will now extend a home stand to four games and kick off a back-to-back set. As for the Kings, it turns their March schedule into a five-game Eastern Conference road trip-an added wrinkle in what’s already a tightly packed stretch.
Weather delays are never ideal, but with safety as the priority, this one was a no-brainer. The good news? Fans won’t have to wait too long to see these two teams square off.