It’s almost hockey season, and that means it’s also PTO season! Here are two headlines around the league that caught our attention on this fine Monday afternoon.

Carson Soucy was a legitimately strong second-pairing defenceman in his first season as a Vancouver Canuck in 2023-24, as he was trusted to play against top lines in both the regular season and into the playoffs as well.

Which is why it might surprise you to find out that he’s just signed a professional tryout contract (PTO) with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Soucy signed a three-year contract with the Canucks on day one of the 2023 NHL free agency period. As mentioned, he was solid in that first season as a Canuck, but the next season, Soucy’s defensive game seemingly fell off a cliff, and he could no longer be trusted as a surefire top-four defenceman. The Canucks elected to move on from him at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, sending him to the New York Rangers for a third-round pick.

Last season with the Rangers (and the final season of Soucy’s three-year contract), he appeared in 46 games before once again being traded for a third-round pick, this time, the Rangers sending him to the New York Islanders. The only real positive of Soucy’s 2025-26 campaign is that he managed to play in 76 games, which is the most he’s logged in a season since 2022-23, when he appeared in 78 games with the Seattle Kraken.

Unfortunately, free agency wasn’t as kind to Soucy this time around as it was in 2023, as he will now attend Blue Jackets camp with the goal of earning an NHL contract and, at minimum, a spot in the Blue Jackets’ organization on a two-way contract. Soucy, who turned 32 in July, is a veteran of 441 NHL games.

Remember how much the term “bet” and “placing their bet” was used to talk about the Vancouver Canucks’ recent contract extension with Zeev Buium? And remember how we (and Canucks GM Ryan Johnson) talked about the “changing landscape” of the NHL, with more and more teams electing to lock up their young, unproven players to long-term deals.

Well, add another name to that list.

On Monday morning, the Buffalo Sabres announced that they had signed 22-year-old winger Noah Ostlund to a six-year contract worth $6.6 million annually.

Ostlund, who the Sabres selected 16th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft (one spot after the Canucks selected Jonathan Lekkerimäki at 15th overall), just wrapped up his rookie NHL season, tallying 11 goals and 16 assists through 60 NHL games. Ostlund appeared in 45 AHL games with the Rochester Americans in 2024-25, putting up 19 goals and 17 assists as a 20-year-old. Ostlund appeared in three playoff games for the Sabres last season, tallying a goal and an assist.

In total, Ostlund has 68 NHL games under his belt with 11 goals and 16 assists to his name. It’s a bold bet from the Sabres, who are hoping that this contract will look like an absolute steal down the line.