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My thoughts on Tony DeAngelo, plus Henrik Lundqvist's donation
March 26, 2020, 11:47 AM ET [33 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
Larry Brooks is providing player evaluations daily in the NY Post, an exercise that began the past Monday. The order is by last name, and while he is not giving a grade, he is giving a sort of high-level assessment. Since it's my hope that we will have hockey, I thought it might be interesting to take one or a few aspects of his daily column along with his closure  - the latter in italics - and provide my view, then receive yours in the comments. I will try and do this daily, and have covered Lias Andersson, Pavel Buchnevich and Filip Chytil. Today, it's Tony DeAngelo.

DeAngelo




When you have a 24-year-old defenseman, and a righty, no less, who records the fourth-most goals and points in the NHL at his position and who is coming up on restricted free agency, it’s a no-brainer to lock him up for at least five years, isn’t it?

This is likely the most daunting question Rangers management will confront this offseason in evaluating whether it can afford to sign No. 77 for what likely would be at least $6 million per year on a long-term deal.

There are options, of course. The parties could negotiate a short-term bridge deal for two years for a number that probably would come in around $5 million per. Failing that, management could allow DeAngelo to become the first Ranger since Nikolay Zherdev in 2009 to go to arbitration, but that’s not an alternative favored by anyone.

Or, of course, the Blueshirts could trade DeAngelo from a position of strength on the right side of the blue line in order to get a legit top-nine forward with top-six upside who would fill a position of weakness.

DeAngelo is a special offensive talent, the way he skates, the way he sees the ice, the way he’s a breakdown player carrying the puck on the rush, the way he distributes it in the offensive zone and the way he joins the rush and goes to the net, the way he mans the point on what had become a devastating power play when the season was put on hold.

The defensive side of it, well, not quite so much. DeAngelo has his moments, he plays with bite, he doesn’t back down, he supports his teammates and, of course, he can wheel the puck out of danger in an instant, but there are more than a few too many times when he seems to pick his spots and choose his battles. Clearly, the Rangers need more than a bit more diligence from him in front of the net and in the D-zone corners.

Clearly, if the Rangers are going to sign DeAngelo for the long term, they have to be convinced this controversy-free season will be the norm and not the exception. There were no benchings or healthy scratches resulting from immature behavior, as there had been on multiple occasions in 2018-19. In fact, it was just as DeAngelo promised the day he reported to camp after settling on his one-year contract.

Management’s decision will be about DeAngelo, but not only about DeAngelo. Because there is going to be a cap crunch. Can the Rangers afford $5 million to $6 million per over the long haul to have DeAngelo on the third pair?

That probably won’t work for anyone. But what if the Rangers move DeAngelo to his off-side on the left, where he has played capably at different stages of his career? The Blueshirts finished this year with Ryan Lindgren, Marc Staal and Brendan Smith as their three lefties.

Uhh …

I know. Libor Hajek is a lefty and so is Yegor Rykov. K’Andre Miller plays the left side and so do Tarmo Reunanen, Zac Jones and Matthew Robertson. But they are prospects. DeAngelo is an established NHL player. Yes, he is. He established that this year. Moving him to that side would fill a need.

Imagine how poetic it would be to find DeAngelo on the left of anything.


DeAngelo entered the season on a one-year deal, partially due to the lack of cap space for New York. At the time, most of us advocated a two-year deal, thereby limiting the downside risk if ADA exploded. GM Jeff Gorton was either unable or unwilling to deal Vlad Namestnikov prior to the season, and when that deal occurred, the timing was too late to lock up DeAngelo for more than this year. ADA had no arb rights and waited for accepting his contract at the minimum rate.

ADA more than earned that salary and his play has moved his rate of pay to at least the $4 million or $5 million range. To me, that amount seems more likely on a long term deal. I was thinking between $3-$4 million on a bridge deal, but could see a higher base amount and up to $6 million on a long-term deal. If the possible compliance buyout we discussed last week actually is a reality, the Rangers could use the savings on either buying out Henrik Lundqvist, Marc Staal or Brendan Smith on DeAngelo. In addition, and maybe more important, the future cap and use of escrow will determine how much space is truly available, impacting what type of deal ADA could be offered, similar to last year. 

Moving DeAngelo to the left side, where he played in the past, looks to be the wisest path forward. This shift would fix a hole for New York and open a spot for the depth that exists within the organization. If the org knew ADA would pan out as he had, maybe Jacob Trouba is now acquired in general or signed long-term, but that's Monday Morning QB and revisionist history, and unless they move him before the July 1 NMC kicks in, a non-entity for this discussion. 

I would most certainly give ADA a bridge deal. Seeing what happened last year, that length of contract might be what he wants to enable him to cash in quicker. The only way around that would be if New York gave ADA around $7 mil a year long term, which to me is an overpayment. But if he continues to development, especially defensively, that may not necessarily be the case.

Love ADA's comment to Brooks' column, as the last line was a nod to DeAngelo's political leanings, which have been a bone of contention in the past. 




What's your view on how the Rangers should proceed?

Lundqvist gets it and well done by him and his wife:









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