Soucy Held Out for ‘Roster Management’ As Trade to Islanders Is Pending

It appears that the New York Rangers are on the brink of their first trade to come following The Letter 2.0. According to Vince Mercogliano of The Athletic, Soucy will be held out of the Rangers lineup tonight for roster management purposes as a trade that would send him to the New York Islanders is in the works.

Some quick details about what the Islanders have to offer. It's worth mentioning that the Islanders do not have a 2026 second round pick. That pick was sent to the Chicago Blackhawks alongside Josh Bailey in exchange for future considerations in order to clear up cap space in the summer of 2023.

The Islanders do have two first rounders in the 2026 draft as well as one pick in every other round, all the way through 2028. The Rangers originally gave up a third in order to acquire Soucy this time last year. While it's unknown what the exact return is, it's hard to imagine Chris Drury and the Rangers would help out the Islanders for anything less than what they gave up to get this player in the first place. By that logic, the return could be a 2026 third or a 2027 second. There's always a chance that there are conditions involved.

However as Phil wisely pointed out in our Banter Slack (and on X), there is a chance that Drury is doing right by the player and involving him in a trade that would not require him to uproot his family mid season.

Fun fact in regards to Rangers-Islanders trades, this would be the first trade to take place between the two teams in a quarter of a century. The last time the rivals did business together was in 2010 when the Rangers acquired defenseman Jyri Niemi in exchange for a sixth round pick. Niemi was a former third round pick and played in 54 games in parts of two seasons with Hartford.

As for the sixth the Rangers gave up, that ended up belonging to the Atlanta Thrashers as a result of another trade which landed them Tanner Lane. Lane would never sign an NHL contract or play professionally following four seasons at University of Omaha-Nebraska. Prior to that, the Rangers and Islanders hadn't done business together in 37 years since the Rangers sent them Ron Stewart for cash. In total, the teams have only made three trades together. The first was simply trading draft picks ahead of the 1972 draft.

The Rangers will host the Boston Bruins tonight for a 7 p.m. puck drop. Additionally, the team has announced a pair of roster moves which will allow for them to carry an extra defenseman. Connor Mackey rejoins the team as Anton Blidh will head back to Hartford.