New York Rangers Bolster Their Blue Line With Massive Trade With The Vancouver Canucks

With Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren being traded, the Rangers' blue line was missing the kind of bruiser that the team acquired today.

That is defenseman Carson Soucy, who GM Chris Drury acquired from the Vancouver Canucks today.

The deal was done today for a third-round pick according to NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman.

While there's been no indication that the two spoke before the trade, Soucy and defenseman Will Borgen are buddies.

Soucy will give the left-side of the Rangers defense some needed muscle missing. In 59 games this season he's scored only 10 points (3 G, 7 A).

Even better, he waived his no-trade clause to play on Broadway, a sure sign that he's already bought into the uniform. Next year the NTC will be reduced to 12 NHL teams, something GM Chris Drury considered before finalizing the deal here of course.

Soucy is in year two of a three-year deal that pays him $3.25 million AAV and would likely push Urho Vaakanainen, or Calvin DeHaan into a 7th defenseman role, as he provides both a punishing style of defense, with some offensive upside.

As Vaakanainen isn't a proven veteran, and we know how much Laviolette loves his vets.

While DeHaan may still fit on the bottom pair, it's difficult to tell how Laviolette is thinking with the blue line from one day to the next.

The opaque nature of this trade should come to fruition once he arrives in New York though.