If there was ever an interesting story in the NHL, it would be the case of Tony DeAngelo
The old saying is a cat has nine lives. When it comes to being a professional NHL hockey player, no one has had more lives than Tony DeAngelo. With his recent signing with the New York Islanders, DeAngelo once again gets a shot in the big league. A shot up until recently he never thought he would have again.
To tell this story we need to go back a few years, when all of the controversy surrounding the defenseman began. The 29-year-old started his NHL career in 2016 after being drafted by the Arizona Coyotes. After appearing in 39 games for the Coyotes, DeAngelo was traded in 2017 to the New York Rangers. It was here when the bright lights and big city started to take its toll on him.
DeAngelo was one of the best offensive defensemen the Rangers had for a few years. In fact in the 2019-2020 season he totaled 15 goals from the blueline. He was destined to be a top 4 D-man for the Rangers for many years to come. That is of course until internal locker room problems as well as social media issues began to cause turmoil.
Tony made it very well known on all his social media platforms that he was a staunch conservative. During President Trump’s first term, he made it very well known he was a full supporter of the President. Sadly if you know anything about social media, sometimes it’s not the best place to make political comments. Especially in a divided country like we had back then.
Tony expressed his feelings publicly but engaged in many online battles. This did not please the Rangers hierarchy, as they did not want any negative publicity. Even though the team asked him to tone it down, he never stopped. Eventually this put his team in an uncomfortable position.
Then the real fireworks hit the fan. It was bad enough he was fighting online with people on Facebook and Twitter. Now he was having internal battles in his own locker room. Although never really ever confirmed, there were many reports that DeAngelo got into an altercation with one of his teammates, Alexander Geogiev. After a tough loss where Geogiev gave up a last minute goal, DeAngelo allegedly confronted the goalie. Its rumored the two came to blows.
But it didn’t stop there. One of the Rangers other defenseman that season was K’Andre Miller. Miller is African American. It’s also rumored that DeAngelo was heard saying racist comments about his teammate. All this gave the Rangers no choice but to move on from DeAngelo.
DeAngelo packed his bags after being banished to the minor leagues, only playing six games for the Rangers in the 2020-21 season. He signed as a free agent with the Carolina Hurricanes the following year. Rangers fans now had a new whipping boy to boo every time he returned to Madison Square Garden.
The boos from the garden faithful were so loud during that next year, you kinda knew when the Hurricanes were in town. The fans were merciless in letting him know how they felt after all that happened in New York. Unfortunately for Tony his stay in Carolina didn’t last long either.
After only one season with the Canes, DeAngelo packed his bags and landed in Philadelphia the next year. The Flyers were coached by John Tortorella, a man who, let’s just say, doesn’t take crap from anyone. To most hockey fans, it was obvious this marriage would not last long, either. Of course, once again, each time the Flyers showed up to play at MSG, Rangers fans found their whipping boy. From the chorus of boos each time he took the ice, you knew the fans weren’t going to forgive him.
As expected, the marriage with the Flyers also didn’t last long. After playing for the team for one year, DeAngelo was off again, this time back to the Hurricanes. Carolina was giving him a second chance. Well, the second chance didn’t last, and after one season, you guessed it, he was finished with his new/old club.
By this time, most of the NHL had gotten tired of his antics. The league is a close-knit community. Whether he was blackballed or not, DeAngelo simply couldn’t find a job on any team this time. He did not wish to hang up his skates for good. He searched for a place willing to take him and his hockey skills. That team and that league were thousands of miles away on the other side of the world.
At the start of the 2024-25 season, Tony inked a deal to play for the St. Petersburg SKA of the KHL. That’s right, banished to play in Russia. The league has been known to pay former NHL players top dollar to play in the league. DeAngelo was willing to give it a go since he had no NHL offers. He had played in 34 games this season for St. Petersburg and was having a decent season. Then rumors began to swirl on the internet that DeAngelo’s teammates in the KHL were not fond of him either.
DeAngelo had been quoted recently in a New York newspaper that he thought his NHL days were probably over. He would be happy to finish his career in Russia. Well, sometimes life takes some strange twists and turns. Lo and behold, DeAngelo was about to get another chance back home.
The New York Islanders, not known for being a very offensively gifted team to began with, recently lost one of their top defensemen. The loss of Noah Dobson, who was the point man on their power play, created a huge void for the team. Learning Dobson would be out for awhile, Islander GM Lou Lamoriello had to search for a replacement. Well he wound up looking east, to the KHL, and found DeAngelo
Undoubtedly this being his last chance in the NHL, DeAngelo just signed a contract to play for the Islanders for the rest of the season. He will be getting paid the league minimum. The Islanders are hoping he can add life to their faltering power play. It remains to be seen what happens next.
The defensemen had a lot of skill and had the potential to be one of the top D-men in the NHL for many years. Sadly, for many reasons, it didn’t quite work out that way for DeAngelo. Whether it was the internal clubhouse battles or his online political stance, DeAngelo’s career never panned out that way. Most players would not have had as many chances to resurrect a career as he has, yet here he is back in the NHL once again.
I would not place huge odds on DeAngelo playing much longer in the NHL after this season but who knows. After all, if a cat has nine lives, DeAngelo still has about 4 o5 5 left!
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