Why the Islanders wanted defenseman Carson Soucy from the Rangers and wing Ondrej Palat from the Devils was purely for hockey reasons with injuries leaving holes in their lineup. Why the two players wanted to come – and commute – to Long Island was a mix of family concerns and a chance to be part of a playoff push.
Neither wanted to relocate their wives and children – Soucy and his wife welcomed their third child less than two weeks ago – and both are familiar with the Metropolitan Division.
Both are in Wednesday night’s lineup against the Rangers at UBS Arena as Soucy starts his Islanders tenure with a back-to-back against his former teammates as the Islanders play at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. Palat gets to face the Devils on Feb. 5 at Prudential Center.
“This one made sense,” said Soucy, 31, a pending unrestricted free agent in the final season of a three-year, $9.75 million deal. “It’s definitely going to be weird going up [against the Rangers] in these next two games but, ultimately, it’s coming in here to try and make a playoff push.”
Soucy was sent from the Canucks to the Rangers just prior to last season’s trade deadline. The left-shooting Soucy, who had three goals and five assists in 46 games for the Rangers this season, formed a third pair with righty Adam Boqvist. He also expected to see time as a penalty killer.
It’s just the fourth trade between the New York rivals since the Islanders were born in 1972 and the first since 2010.
“I guess it just kind of showed where both teams are at really,” Soucy said. “[Rangers GM Chris] Drury did me a favor of not wanting to ship my family, like last year, across the country. It was a lot on my wife and my kids. It’s nice that we’re not having to move houses.”
Palat, 34, in the fourth season of a five-year, $30 million deal, has a history with GM Mathieu Darche, the assistant GM with the Lightning where Palat played his first 10 NHL seasons. They were together for Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021.
Palat had no-movement protection and a modified no-trade clause in his contract but said he waived it to come to the Islanders.
“It’s a great organization, good group of guys,” Palat said. “Family reasons, too. I can go home on off days.”
But mostly, Palat, who starts Wednesday’s match on Bo Horvat’s wing with Emil Heienman, said he was looking for a fresh start. He had four goals and six assists in 51 games for the Devils.
“I mean, I would love to produce a little more than in New Jersey but I’m not here to score 50 goals a season,” Palat said. “I’m just here to bring the two-way game that is very important in this league.”
“I had obviously a bad year in New Jersey and they traded me and now I’m here and I want to be better and help the team to win.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.