Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet has confirmed that defenseman Carson Soucy will miss five-to-six weeks with a hand injury. Soucy sustained the injury while blocking a shot in the team’s Saturday win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This is yet another long-term absence for Soucy, who already missed 23 games with a lower-body injury suffered in mid-November. He’s managed 21 games when healthy this season, netting six points, four penalty minutes, and a +6. The 29-year-old defender has served in a prominent role when he does play, averaging over 17 minutes of ice time on a Canucks blue-line that’s rotated all three pairings this year. The Canucks signed Soucy to a three-year, $9.8MM contract on July 1st – controlling him at a $3.25MM cap hit through the 2025-26 season.
Soucy has carved out a strong NHL career since being selected in the fifth round of the 2013 NHL Draft. He played four seasons at the University of Minnesota-Duluth after his draft year, making his pro debut with the AHL’s Iowa Wild at the end of the 2016-17 season. Soucy would go on to play in two more AHL seasons before getting his first prolonged stint in the NHL in 2019-20. He recorded 14 points, 18 penalty minutes, and a +16 in 55 games that season as a part of a strong Minnesota Wild blueline. He would go on to serve as the selection from the Minnesota Wild in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, playing in two seasons with the Seattle Kraken before making his way to Vancouver.
And the shot blocking debate continues!
Who are you debating beside yourself?