Signed to a three-year deal by the Vancouver Canucks on the opening day of free agency, Carson Soucy brings plenty of experience and physicality to Vancouver’s lineup. The 6-foot-5, left-shot defenceman played the last two seasons with the Seattle Kraken and brings 650 games of experience to the Canucks’ blue line. Here are five fun facts about Vancouver’s newest defender.
Played in an NCAA Championship Game
During Soucy’s last season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, he helped lead the Bulldogs all the way to the NCAA championship game. Over the course of the 2016-17 season, his team went 15-5-4 during the regular season before being crowned champions after defeating the University of North Dakota led by Brock Boeser and Tucker Poolman in the championship game. The win helped them claim the number one seed in the West Division heading into the NCAA tournament.
After sneaking past both Ohio State and Boston University in overtime, Soucy and the Bulldogs defeated Harvard in the Frozen Four’s semi-final, booking their spot in the Final. Despite a hard-fought battle, the University of Minnesota-Duluth fell 3-2 to Denver in the Final. After the tournament concluded, he signed his entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild, who drafted him 137th overall back in 2013.
First NHL Coach Was Bruce Boudreau
During the 2017-18 season, Soucy spent the majority of the season with the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League (AHL), playing 67 games and recording 15 points. Prior to the regular season coming to a close, he was called up to the NHL, where his first coach was none other than former Canucks bench boss Bruce Boudreau. Overall, he played well, suiting up for three regular season games and getting his first taste of playoff action, dressing in four of the Wild’s five playoff games in their first-round series loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
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Soucy and Boudreau crossed paths again during the 2019-20 season when the defenceman became a full-time NHLer in Minnesota. Unfortunately, their time together did not last long, as the Wild made a coaching change on Feb. 14, 2020. The duo were together for 43 games that season, with the now Canucks defenceman recording five goals and 10 points while averaging 15:34 in his rookie year.
Played Against Vancouver in the Bubble
The 2019-20 campaign was memorable for multiple reasons. Not only was it Soucy’s rookie year, but he had to deal with a coaching change and the league shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily for him and the rest of his teammates, they had a chance to finish out the season in the form of a play-in series versus his future team, the Canucks.
Soucy played in all four games of the play-in series versus Vancouver, finishing with five hits while playing beside Jared Spurgeon and Brad Hunt. During Game 4 of the series, he was on the ice for Bo Horvat’s game-tying goal late in the third before watching Chris Tanev score the series winner just 11 seconds into overtime. Now with the Canucks organization, he will be looking to help the team make the playoffs for the first time since he faced them in the bubble.
Scored First Goal by a Defenceman in Kraken History
Soucy will always hold a special place in Kraken history. Not only was he an original member of the organization, being selected in the Expansion Draft, but he also scored the first-ever goal by a defenceman in franchise history. That goal was also crucial in him setting another franchise milestone, being the first defenceman in Kraken history to record double-digit goals in a season as he hit 10 during the 2021-22 campaign.
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The franchise milestone came in game four of the season when Seattle visited the Philadelphia Flyers for the first time. While the goal did not have an impact in the game, as the scoreline was 6-1 in favour of the Flyers, it is one of those special moments Soucy can always lay claim to. A defender who is just one of three to score a shorthanded goal for the Kraken, the hope is he can replicate his goal-scoring from the 2021-22 season with the Canucks.
19th Player to Wear #7
When Soucy steps on the ice with the Canucks, he will become the 19th player to wear the number seven. A number that has been used mostly by forwards in the past, he is just the third defender and first since Jamie Huscroft, who wore the number from 1997-99. Most recently worn by William Lockwood, others who have worn the number in the past include Brendan Morrison, Cliff Ronning, Gary Lupul and André Boudrias.
While he hasn’t worn the number in the NHL, Soucy has donned the number seven throughout his junior career. According to past records, he wore it for two seasons with the Wainwright Polar Kings U15 AA team and for one year while playing with the Lloydminster Bobcats U16 AAA team. Depending on which players make the team out of training camp, it is possible he will be the only defender on the Canucks to wear a single-digit number who will be part of the opening night lineup.
Big Things Expected From Soucy in Vancouver
Based on the contract the Canucks gave Soucy, it should come as no surprise that the organization expects big things from him over the next three seasons. How the roster is currently constructed, it looks as though he will be the team’s second pair, left-shot defender, and expected to be a major contributor to the penalty kill. Overall, the deal could be beneficial to both sides and will hopefully make Vancouver a more difficult team to play against.