VANCOUVER -- Carson Soucy will be out 6-8 weeks with a lower-body injury after the defenseman blocked a shot with his left foot during a 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.
Soucy was originally listed as week to week after missing practice Tuesday, but general manager Patrik Allvin announced the extended timeline Wednesday.
“It's tough for the individual,” coach Rick Tocchet said of Soucy, who missed the first two games of the season recovering from a knee injury sustained in the preseason. “He's played his best hockey the last 3-4 games. Him and (defenseman Tyler) Myers have been really good. I can tell when we put them together, rock solid.”
Soucy, 29, has five points (two goals, three assists), is plus-6 and is averaging 16:51 of ice time in 13 games during the first season of a three-year, $9.75 million contract ($3.25 million average annual value) he signed July 1. The left-shot defenseman has played mostly on the third pair but also kills penalties.
“This is where the depth comes in,” Tocchet said. “You have to test organizational depth, and we're going to get tested here and there's opportunities for guys.”
Without Soucy, Tocchet said he will have to mix things up more, potentially even breaking up the top pair of Quinn Hughes, who leads NHL defensemen with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) and a plus-17 rating in 16 games, and Filip Hronek, who is tied for third among defensemen with 17 points (one goal, 16 assists), in 16 games.
“It's the committee thing we talked about,” Tocchet said. “I might not have [Hughes] and Hronek together all the time. We might rotate certain guys and guys are used to it. (Assistant coach Adam) Foote has done a great job with (assistant coach Sergei) Gonchar of rotating guys, and that might happen.”
To this point, Tocchet has been reluctant to pair defensemen who shoot from the same side, preferring to play a left shot on the left side and right shot on the right side. That, too, will change without Soucy.
Vancouver called up left-shot defenseman Akito Hirose from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League on Tuesday but dressed four right shots in a 4-3 overtime win against the New York Islanders on Wednesday, with right-shot defenseman Mark Friedman playing on the left side.
“You guys know I like the righty-lefty, obviously, but nothing's perfect,” Tocchet said. “I know [Foote] spent a lot of time with [Friedman], playing the left side, teaching him some stuff, so that's good. He's played left before.”
Tocchet also stressed the need to lean on the system and defensive support from backchecking forwards that have helped the Canucks to a 12-3-1 start.
“This is where you hold the fort with your identity and your structure,” he said.
