Controversial former Rangers defenseman signs with rival Islanders
Tony DeAngelo is back in the NHL — and he’s back in New York. No, the former Rangers defenseman is not going to be playing his home games once again at Madison Square Garden, but he will be patrolling the blue line instead along the Queens-Nassau border for the Islanders at UBS Arena.
The 29-year-old South Jersey native agreed to a one-year, prorated $775,000 contract with the Islanders on Friday. He wasn’t in uniform for the Isles’ home game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday but could dress Saturday when the Carolina Hurricanes come to town.
DeAngelo recently mutually agreed to dissolve his relationship with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL. He led KHL defensemen with 32 points (six goals, 26 assists) in 34 games.
But it seems there’s always something with DeAngelo. When he departed St. Petersburg to return home to the United States to be with his family, there were rumors that he was disliked by coaches and teammates in Russia because he was most concerned with his offensive numbers — likely because much of his salary was tied to statistical bonuses.
Still, the timing of his return worked out well. The Islanders will be without their top offensive defenseman, Noah Dobson, who’s out week to week after he sustained a lower-body injury in a 3-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Defenseman Mike Reilly hasn’t played since Nov. 1 and remains sidelined following heart surgery for the Islanders, who are last in the Metropolitan Division and eight points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
DeAngelo played 31 games with the Hurricanes last season and had 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in a limited role. When Brett Pesce was injured early in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, DeAngelo took on a regular role on the Hurricanes’ blue line. He played nine postseason games and averaged more than 19 minutes of ice time per game, contributing two assists.
DeAngelo played all six games against the Rangers in the second round. He had an assist in Carolina’s Game 2 overtime loss in New York and another in its home win in Game 4.
Related: Tony DeAngelo clears air about messy Rangers tenure
Tony DeAngelo’s tenure with Rangers was mixed bag
While other defensemen, former Carolina teammates Brady Skjei and Pesce, cashed in this past summer on the NHL free-agent market, DeAngelo was left out in the cold. He’s still a skilled puck mover, who has 210 points (48 goals, 162 assists) in 371 NHL games. But after remaining unsigned, he agreed to play in Russia.
His Rangers tenure was a mixed bag. Acquired from the Arizona Coyotes before the 2017 NHL Draft as part of a trade that sent Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to the desert, DeAngelo was a top-four defenseman by 2018-19. Then in 2019-20, DeAngelo scored an NHL career-high 15 goals and 53 points in 68 games with the Rangers.
But things went south the following season. The final straw for him in New York took place on Jan. 30, 2021, when he had an altercation with a teammate, goalie Alexandar Georgiev. DeAngelo played just six games that season and not another after the incident. The Rangers eventually bought out his contract.
Now he’s back in New York and preparing to play for his fourth team in the Metropolitan Division, after stints with the Rangers, Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers.
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