Rangers General Manager Chris Drury continued his remaking of the Rangers roster with a pair of trades that sent veteran Reilly Smith back to Vegas, and acquired defenseman Carson Soucy from the Vancouver Canucks and prospect center Brendan Brisson from the Vegas Golden Knights.

Both moves serve Drury’s goal of remaking the roster, acquiring a couple of depressed assets at a lower cost, and getting some value out of a player who wasn’t going to return next season.

Reilly Reunion In Vegas

The first move of the day saw veteran right-wing Reilly Smith sent back to the desert in exchange for a 3rd round pick in 2025 and a prospect. Having sat out the last three games for “roster management purposes, Smith was expected to be moved by tomorrow’s deadline, and there were even thoughts he might earn the Rangers a 2nd round pick.

As it turns out, the market for veteran Right Wings isn’t quite that strong, but Drury did okay in getting the pick and prospective center Brendan Brisson in the return. Brisson is a former team mate of former Ranger prospect Eric Ciccolini at the University of Michigan, and was likely known to Assistant General Manager Ryan Martin in his previous role prior to joining the Rangers.

The 23 year old Brisson scored 2 goals and registered 8 points in a 15 game introduction to the NHL last season, but struggled this year with no points in 9 games. He can play either center or left wing, and helps continue the Rangers search for some center depth, an area of significant need in the organization, especially with the departure of Filip Chytil earlier in the year.

Make no mistake, Brisson is far from a sure-fire prospect, and saw his numbers drop in the AHL this year with just 5 goals and 14 assists to go with an unsightly -24 after putting up 18 goals and 19 goals in the previous two seasons with the Henderson Silver Knights.

Hopefully a change of scenery will give him another chance to find his footing, in a similar way that Ty Emberson rebounded after being acquired in the trade that off-loaded Patrik Nemeth’s contract to Arizona a couple of years ago.

Soucy Suffered in Vancouver

The 30 year old Soucy has not performed well in his second season in Vancouver, having signed a three-year $9.75M dollar deal in 2023 after two successful seasons as a founding member of the Seattle Kraken where he set career highs for goals (10) and points (21) in the first year.

Really a third pair defender, Soucy perhaps was a little overmatched as a second pair guy in Vancouver who was being used 20-22 minutes a night this season, a far cry from his career average of around 16-17 minutes. He’s seen his ice-time erode in the last 6 weeks or so, and was at risk of being a healthy scratch according to reports.

What the Rangers plans for Soucy are remain to be seen. He could potentially be an effective third pair guy, albeit one who is more on the expensive side at $3.25M AAV, and he certain brings size and a level of physicality to the back end, but he could get exposed if he’s left without support from his team mates.

With Borgen and Vaakanainen both coming over and turning their seasons around in New York, Drury will no doubt be hoping for a third such reclamation project to pan out. The price of acquisition being San Jose’s pick that they acquired in the Smith trade from Vegas, a solid return given the Devils spent a 2nd and a prospect to get 33 year old pending UFA Brian Dumoulin from the Anaheim Ducks.

Initial expectations would be that Soucy will push Calvin de Haan out of the line-up, though it’s possible that Drury still has other moves in store before 3pm Eastern tomorrow.