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Success or failure, it’s all up to Tony DeAngelo

By Steve Paulus

ST. PAUL, MN - FEBRUARY 13: New York Rangers Defenceman Tony DeAngelo (77) skates with the puck during a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers on February 13, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. The Wild defeated the Rangers 3-2.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, MN - FEBRUARY 13: New York Rangers Defenceman Tony DeAngelo (77) skates with the puck during a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers on February 13, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. The Wild defeated the Rangers 3-2.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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COLUMBUS, OH – NOVEMBER 10: Columbus Blue Jackets center Riley Nash (20) and New York Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo (77) fight in a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers on November 10, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH.(Photo by Adam Lacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH – NOVEMBER 10: Columbus Blue Jackets center Riley Nash (20) and New York Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo (77) fight in a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers on November 10, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH.(Photo by Adam Lacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The cap is a problem

The Rangers cap issues are well documented and we’ve talked about it a lot here at Blue Line Station.  The danger for the Blueshirts is if DeAngelo pulls it off and has that ten goals, 50 points season.  He will be going into an arbitration eligible RFA summer with two straight positive seasons and a rehabilitated reputation.   He would looking at a payday equivalent to the likes of McAvoy or Werenski on a bridge deal or Provorov or Morrissey for a longer term.

Meanwhile, the Rangers will be going into a season with just under $17 million in cap space and the need to re-sign DeAngelo, Brendan Lemieux, Alexandar Georgiev, Ryan Strome (all RFA’s) and theoretically replace Chris Kreider, Jesper Fast, Vlad Namestnikov and Greg McKegg (all UFA’s).    That $6.1 million in dead cap space from the Shattenkirk buyout could start looking pretty bad.

It’s not impossible to do, but it won’t be easy and if a DeAngelo bridge deal ends up in the $5 million range there won’t be a lot of room left.  Where the cap ends up for the 2020-21 season will be very important.

The worst case scenario

Of course there is always the chance that DeAngelo will actually regress.  In this scenario, Adam Fox could surpass him as the second pair right defenseman, reducing DeAngelo’s ice time.  The duo of Trouba and Fox could also end up one-two on the power play meaning DeAngelo won’t have the opportunity to pad his statistics.

It will be a very different summer for DeAngelo if he goes into the off-season as the third or fourth highest scoring defenseman on the team. There’s also no way to know how he would react to a diminished role and a reduction in playing time.  That would be David Quinn’s challenge to manage.

At that point, it might be time for the Rangers to find a new home Tony DeAngelo.

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