Prospect Update: Tyler Soy

By Thomas Harrington

The Anaheim Ducks selected Tyler Soy 205th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. As a seventh round pick, the odds are against him making it to the NHL. However, he only needs to look at Anaheim this past season for inspiration. Ondrej Kase played over 50 games with Anaheim, and he was a seventh round pick, 205th overall, in 2014.

When the Ducks drafted Soy, he was already 19, after being passed over in the draft as an 18-year-old. Unfortunately, in a year where most junior players set new offensive highs, Soy struggled with injuries and was limited to just 44 games last season. However, he did score 25 goals and 55 points. If he had stayed healthy, he likely would have surpassed the numbers he had the year before that led to the Ducks drafting him. He played for the Victoria Royals and was one of their alternate captains for the third year in a row. Despite missing almost 30 games last season, Soy still finished fourth on the team in points and was tied for third in goals. Every player who finished with more goals or points than him played at least 70 games for the Royals. Soy has scored 115 goals for Victoria over the course of his junior career, which is second all time in team history. In the playoffs, Victoria was eliminated in the first round. Soy scored two goals and four points in the six game series loss.

Following Victoria’s elimination from the playoffs, Soy was signed to an ATO and joined the Gulls for the end of their season. He made it into two regular season games with the Gulls and went scoreless. He did not make it into any playoff games for San Diego. Despite not getting any AHL postseason action, the experience was a good one for Soy and will hopefully help him next season, as he will likely to return to Victoria for one final junior season.

Right now, Soy has yet to sign an entry-level contract with the Ducks. As a result, he is almost assured to return to the WHL for an overage season. Assuming he’s with the Royals for one more season, I’d like him to stay healthy this season and be one of their top scorers again. If he can break the all-time goal record for a Royals player, even better. He’s got a lot of skill, but now that he’s had a taste of what professional hockey is like, he’s going to need to work on what he learned with the Gulls and become a better overall player this coming season.

The Ducks will hold Soy’s rights for another season. However, those rights will expire next summer. If the Ducks decide not to sign him, then he’ll become a free agent. It’s hard to say what Anaheim intends to do with Soy. Right now, I don’t think the Ducks have decided on whether or not to sign him. I think this season will determine his future with the organization. If Soy can stay healthy and light up the WHL, he’s got a decent chance to be signed. But if he has another injury plagued season or his numbers drop off, he’ll probably be let go. If the Ducks do decide to sign Soy, they could bring him up to the Gulls, or start him off with Utah in the ECHL.

My next prospect update will be on Matt Berkovitz.

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August 29th, 2017

Filed under: Ducks News Tagged: Anaheim Ducks, Ducks, ducksnpucks, Prospect update, Tyler Soy