The Calgary Flames are, to the surprise of many, in the playoff hunt as the 4 Nations Face-Off break approaches.

However, the Flames are not a team without flaws. The recent injury absence of blueliner Kevin Bahl has exposed a lack of depth on their back-end. To wit: while they’ve carried eight defencemen all season and had a rotation of a few different players join Brayden Pachal on the third line to varying levels of success, the third pairing rotation guys probably aren’t players you want to be leaning on in the top two pairings.

That’s what happened, though, with Bahl unavailable. And for a team that is hoping to lock down a playoff spot this season, that’s a problem. Could Vancouver Canucks blueliner Carson Soucy be the solution?

Earlier this week, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported that the Canucks have informed the rest of the league that Soucy is available in a trade. And on Thursday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned Soucy as a potential Flames fit in his 32 Thoughts column. Should the Flames be interested?

Soucy is a 30-year-old left shot defenceman. His age and handedness are arguably both big pluses, as being a lefty would allow the Flames to build three left-right pairings when Kevin Bahl returns. That’s especially important in the case of MacKenzie Weegar, who can play on either side but may be slightly better on his natural right side than on his left. (Weegar’s noted he thinks he plays more physical on the right side.)

Soucy’s a big dude, listed at 6’5″ and 212 pounds, and he’s from Irma, Alberta. He’s played a good amount of playoff hockey in recent years – two rounds with Seattle in 2022-23 and two with Vancouver in 2023-24 – so he would be aware of what’s being asked of him, and it’s unlikely that the moment would be too big for him. He’s been there, done that, and he wouldn’t be asked to do more than what he’s done in the past.

Moreover, Soucy’s contractual status could be seen as a positive or negative from different perspectives. He carries a $3.25 million cap hit through the end of next season, so he’s not necessarily a rental… but because of his performance and cap hit, the Canucks probably won’t ask for much more than a rental player would be fetching. If Soucy can bounce back, he could be a very useful low-cost add.

So, we’re going to have to say something unkind here: Soucy hasn’t been very good this season.

The past couple of seasons, he’s been leaned on by Vancouver in a tough-minutes role alongside Tyler Myers (last year) and Noah Juulsen (this year). The duo has been tasked with facing the other team’s best and brightest in heavy defensive zone starts, allowing the Canucks’ other blueliners to have more favourable deployments. Quite simply: Soucy has been getting crushed this season, in terms of both puck possession and results, which is why Vancouver is making him available. In particular, he and Juulsen have really struggled together.

If you’re the Flames and you acquire Soucy, you have to be pretty sure of two things:

Soucy’s 30. He’s struggling and based on our understanding of aging curves, it’s unlikely that his game will completely rebound. Adding him would potentially block a spot for a younger player in the Flames organization that could grow into the role.

Based on where the Flames are in their development as a hockey club, we’re just not sure there’s a great fit here for Soucy.