Report: Kraken select Carson Soucy in expansion draft

The Seattle Kraken have taken their pick from the Minnesota Wild’s unprotected players, selecting defenseman Carson Soucy for their first roster in franchise history.

Before the dual buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, Soucy was largely considered to be safely penciled into next year’s lineup, with Matt Dumba most likely going west, but now with the newly protected Dumba not having to worry about that, Soucy is going to be the sacrificial defenseman for the Wild to give up.

With Soucy goes his $2.75-million cap hit as well. The 26-year-old defender still has two years remaining on his contract before he hits free agency, making him a fairly controllable asset for the Kraken to squeeze all the value out of.

Most projections had Soucy or rookie netminder Kaapo Kahkonen being the Kraken’s selection. Now that the decision has been made final, it looks like Seattle didn’t want to potentially deal with a goaltending project and instead opted for someone that can either anchor a bottom pair or serve as a top-four defenseman in desperation. Honestly, given their choices, it is a decision a lot of people around the league and with opinions surrounding this team, would have made.

During his 108 games played for Minnesota, Soucy scored 8 goals and 31 points.