New York Rangers: Make an offer for Adam Fox within reason
The New York Rangers should be willing to make an offer for college free agent Adam Fox who’s rights are currently held by the Carolina Hurricanes.
For the New York Rangers to continually improve and eventually get back to the postseason, it’s going to require more talent than what’s already in the pipeline. Whether it be in the form of free agents, trades or draft picks, New York has a lot of holes on the roster. Most pressing is the need to improve the team’s talent on the blue line.
While Libor Hajek was perfectly fine in his five games this year before getting hurt, Ryan Lindgren is extremely green and both K’Andre Miller as well as Nils Lundkvist are likely years away from making an NHL impact. This leaves the team at an impasse as it needs to begin to right the ship after two consecutive rebuilding years.
This brings the Rangers to the curious case of Harvard defenseman Adam Fox. The Jericho, New York native has indicated that he is going back to Harvard for his senior year of college. This in effect will force the Hurricanes’ hand into making a decision one way or another.
Either Carolina can just let Fox go back to school and lose his rights for nothing at the end of the next college season or it can try to acquire an asset in return. This is similar to the situation that Jimmy Vesey was in with both the Nashville Predators and later Buffalo Sabres.
A player choosing to enter what is essentially unrestricted free agency at age 22 or 23 is a mode of labor empowerment. When Vesey did it, he drew fierce criticism for heading to New York to play alongside childhood friend Kevin Hayes instead of joining a contender in Nashville.
What we know
Fox is returning to Harvard this year according to Sportsnet Canada’s Elliotte Friedman. However, if the Hurricanes were to trade the defenseman, he could change his mind and he would be able to sign an entry-level contract for the 2019-20 season. There are reports that several teams around the league have checked in with the Hurricanes for a starting price for Fox.
However, there is some conjecture among organizations around the league that Fox already has his heart set on joining the Rangers. He grew up as a Rangers fan and has made it clear to many that being a Ranger is his dream. That, in theory, drives Fox’s price on the open market down because teams think he’s going to New York anyway, the issue is when.
Because of the Ranger factor, Carolina may be inclined to just sit on Fox to let his rights expire if no one else ponies up a reasonable offer.
What the Rangers should do
Simply put, the Rangers should be ready to make a move for Fox. He is projected to be at minimum a second pair defenseman. He scored nine goals and added 39 assists in 33 games. He is a Hobey Baker Award finalist.
He’d immediately slide into the right side at a premium position. There’s a reason that right-handed blueliners always have more value than left-handed ones. The addition of Fox would give the Rangers four righty shooting defensemen and that could open up trade possibilities.
At this point, it’s just a matter of the Hurricanes being willing to play ball. If they don’t trade him, the likelihood is that he will return to Harvard and become a free agent next August. In that case they get nothing.
Fox was a key element of the deal that sent Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanafin to Calgary in exchange for Dougie Hamilton, Michael Ferland and the rights to Fox. Ferland is ready to leave as an unrestricted free agent. Losing Fox also would make the trade a big win for the Flames.
The Rangers can certainly wait, but trading for him avoids the possibility of another team courting him when he reaches free agency. There also the possibility that another team could trade for Fox and convince him to sign. In either case, New York will have lost out on a cost-controlled asset with considerable value.
The Rangers should try to trade for Fox now to avoid losing out on an impactful player. When it comes to asset value, a second or third round pick will always be worth less than a player that is ready to play at the NHL level. That’s good asset management and something that general manager Jeff Gorton should be willing to do.
Early reports have the Rangers being willing to part with one of the team’s two second-round picks while Carolina is insisting on the 22nd overall pick that New York got from Winnipeg in return for Hayes.
Next. The best and worst draft scenarios. dark
In an ideal world, the Rangers move one of the two-second rounders for Fox in order to get him into the lineup next season. However, if Carolina’s demands are exorbitant, the team would be within reason to wait out the clock and get to next summer to recruit Fox in an open negotiation like it did both Hayes and Vesey.