The Vancouver Canucks have been rebuilding their defence and on day one of free agency, they picked up 28-year-old, 6’5″, left-shot defenceman Carson Soucy.

It’s a three-year deal with an average annual value of $3,250,000. The price is steep if you are looking at a bottom-pairing defenceman but if he can easily slide into the Canucks’ top-four and add time on the penalty kill, it has the potential to be a solid signing.

Soucy was excellent on Seattle’s penalty kill last season. He was on the second pairing for their shorthanded unit and was one of the top-10 (7th) defencemen when it comes to on-ice expected goals against per 60 minutes of shorthanded play. Soucy will bring some size to the backend and has the potential to be the top penalty killer for the Canucks’ defence corps.

Our expectation is that Soucy plays alongside Filip Hronek at five-on-five and may see time with Hronek on the top penalty-killing unit as well. Hronek was third in the NHL in terms of xGA/60 while shorthanded. According to those stats, the Canucks have the potential to put these two players together and hope that the duo can find success as the team’s top penalty-killing defence pairing. They both played extremely well in a second-pairing role but could be asked to do more and be the pairing for the top shorthanded unit.

Soucy has been used primarily in a bottom-pairing role but has averaged 16:55 of ice time over the past two seasons with the Seattle Kraken. The question for Soucy will be if he can be an everyday top-four defenceman. He will certainly get a chance with the Canucks, who need help on defence and came into July 1st with only three defencemen signed to one-way NHL contracts.

We like the size and grit that Soucy brings to the lineup. He scored a respectable 64.41 DAWG Rating last season and had 143 hits in 78 games last season. On top of that, Soucy only scored three goals this past season but put up 10 goals during Seattle’s inaugural season — there may be some more offence to be found in Soucy’s game.

Soucy was born in Viking, Alberta and has played in 250 NHL games over his five-year career. He will now receive the best opportunity for ice time in his career and if he can step up and play like a legitimate top-four defenceman — the Canucks will see a significant boost to their defence corps. There was a lot to like about the way that the Kraken’s defencemen moved the puck at five-on-five and with newcomer Hronek joining the mix, the hope is that the Canucks defence corps will be able to move the puck better than they have over the past few seasons.

As for the contract, free agent defencmen are always going to get paid well and this is the case with Soucy. His $3,250,000 isn’t that steep as we have seen some other bottom-four defencemen who for big money on day one of free agency.