Carson Soucy’s run through the Metropolitan Division is keeping him busy, and now it’s taking him to Columbus.
The former Rangers defenseman agreed to a professional tryout with the Blue Jackets on Sunday and is set to report to training camp when it opens this upcoming week. If that leads to a contract, Soucy would have suited up for three Metro teams in a nine-month stretch.
Soucy opened last season with the Rangers before New York sent him to the Islanders in January in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. He spent 46 games with the Rangers, finishing with eight points - three goals and five assists - along with a plus-4 rating while logging 17:13 of ice time per game. His 5.00 blocked shots per 60 minutes ranked third on the team.
Before the trade, Soucy had been paired with Will Borgen on the Rangers’ second defense unit. New York has since moved on from Borgen as well, sending him to the Boston Bruins this offseason. The club’s new second pair now features Marcus Pettersson, acquired from the Vancouver Canucks, and Sean Durzi, brought in from the Utah Mammoth.
After the move to Long Island, Soucy played 30 games for the Islanders and posted four points, with two goals and two assists. He averaged 15:27 of ice time and finished minus-10. Across 441 NHL games with the Minnesota Wild, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, Rangers and Islanders, he has 99 points - 32 goals and 67 assists - and a plus-54 rating.
New York originally got Soucy from Vancouver shortly before the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, giving up a third-round pick in the 2025 draft to bring him in while he still had one year left on his deal.
In Columbus, the left side of the top two defense pairs is already spoken for by Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski and Ivan Provorov. Even so, Soucy should have a real shot to earn a role on the third pair or at minimum stick around as the extra seventh defenseman.
The Blue Jackets finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division last season with 92 points and came up seven points short in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. Columbus last reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2019-20.
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The Rangers opening game of the 2026 Rookie Series in Allentown gave them a useful first look at how this group is coming together, even in a 3-2 loss to the Flyers at PPL Center. Alberts mits was involved in both New York goals, showing the kind of puck-moving ability that can jump off the ice in a rookie setting, while Philadelphias top line kept pressure on the Rangers throughout and helped set the tone in a game that felt more competitive than the final score suggested.
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