Yesterday, the Blue Jackets announced their first PTO (professional tryout offer) invitee to training camp for this fall, and it's an interesting name. Defenseman Carson Soucy will attend camp with the Jackets starting this week.
The 6'4, 211 pounder is a veteran of 441 NHL games, split between the Minnesota Wild, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, and Islanders.
Once thought of as an emerging high-end stay at home defenseman, Soucy has fallen off the radar a bit as his play has declined. Last year, he got into 76 games split between the two New York teams, scoring 5 goals, 12 points, 38 penalty minutes, and adding a -6 rating.
Despite an expanding salary cap, he remains without an NHL contract for the upcoming season. So, he will come to camp in Columbus with hopes of forcing his way onto the team-or at least get some exposure to earn a deal elsewhere.
Getting a contract might be tough.
Soucy is going to have an uphill battle at Blue Jackets training camp. The team has all 7 full-time defensemen returning from last year's roster, as well as at least one youngster pushing for a spot.
Not to mention their salary cap situation, which sits perilously close to the league-wide max, with their star center apparently set to soak up all of the remaining space. The team does have a couple of injuries to work through that may provide enough room to add a veteran, but it's still tough to find a spot for another defenseman here.
The reality of this situation may be far more simple. As Waddell noted last week, Damon Severson is not expected to play in any preseason games this fall as he works his way back from a shoulder injury suffered last year.
So, Soucy's addition may just be insurance for that role. Teams are required to ice a certain number of veterans in exhibition games. Adding another player to the mix, allows Waddell and the Blue Jackets the luxury of not burning out any of their other defensemen as Severson prepares for the season.
With all of that aside, it's not entirely impossible that Soucy could earn a one-year deal. He's a Waddell type of player, but more importantly, he's a Rick Bowness type of player: he's a big, physical, experienced shot blocker.
"Carson Soucy is a big, physical stay-at-home defenseman who blocks shots, clears the net and plays an overall solid defensive game. He is a competitive, experienced player and we look forward to having him in camp."Don Waddell
Despite his struggles at his most recent stops, I could see him helping this team's third defense pairing, and on the penalty kill. He would be an improvement over Jake Christiansen, at the very least. It will be interesting to see how he looks early on in the preseason.
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