Rangers trade Carson Soucy to the Islanders

The first move of the Rangers’ retool will be a trade with the Blueshirts’ greatest rival.

On Monday, the Rangers agreed to send defenseman Carson Soucy to the Islanders. The trade would be the fourth ever between the two New York teams, the last coming in May, 2010, when the Islanders sent Jyri Niemi to the Rangers for a sixth round pick.

The Rangers are getting a third round pick from the Islanders for Soucy.

The deal was finalized late Monday night before the teams play each other in a back-to-back set Wednesday and Thursday.

It's not known if Soucy would play for the Islanders in those games.

Soucy was held out of Monday night’s lineup against the Boston Bruins at the Garden for roster management purposes.

Soucy, 31, is a 6-4, 211-pound, left-handed shot who is in the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He was acquired by the Rangers at last year’s NHL trade deadline from Vancouver in exchange for a third-round pick that originally belonged to San Jose and had been acquired by the Rangers in a trade with Vegas.

Soucy fills the Isles’ need for a left-handed defenseman, which the team has had since Alexander Romanov went down with a shoulder injury early in the season and was lost for the remainder of the regular season. The Islanders have to this point filled that spot with a variety of callups from their farm team in Bridgeport.

Soucy has played 46 games for the Rangers this season, scoring three goals and collecting five assists, with 18 penalty minutes and a plus/minus rating of +4.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.