Will the Adam Fox trade be the best ever?
The trade for Mika Zibanejad will go down as one of the best in the history of the New York Rangers. There is a chance that another trade may be just as as good, the acquisition of Adam Fox.
It was July 18, 2016. Mika Zibanejad and a second round pick from Ottawa in exchange for Derick Brassard and a seventh round draft pick. When New York Rangers’ General Manager Jeff Gorton pulled the trigger on that deal, believe it or not, the reaction was pretty negative from the fanbase. Brassard was a fan favorite and a playoff stalwart while Zibanejad was an unknown. There’s no doubt how that trade has worked out. How will the Adam Fox deal compare?
When the Rangers swapped two second round picks to the Carolina Hurricanes for the rights to Adam Fox, there was a slight risk. Fox had just finished his junior year at Harvard and if he decided to return for his senior year he would be an unrestricted free agent the following August. He could follow in the footsteps of Jimmy Vesey and have his pick of NHL destinations.
Luckily for the Rangers, Fox had grown up in Jericho, New York as a Blueshirts fan. Despite growing up in the shadow of the Nassau Coliseum, he was a Ranger fan, like the rest of his family. It’s probably fortunate that as a kid he watched the Ranger teams that were an annual playoff performer, led by a young Henrik Lundqvist as opposed to a lousy Islanders squad that missed the postseason six years out of seven.
After he was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the third round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, it was believed that he would eventually sign with them. After a couple years, the Flames saw enough warning signs to believe that he would not sign and they traded him to Carolina as part of the deal that saw the Canes get Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland in exchange for Noah Hanafin and Elias Lindholm. Carolina also thought they would be able to sign him, but when it became apparent that he would be returning to Harvard they traded him to the Rangers.
How good can Fox be?
While it is too early to know how good Adam Fox will be, all of the signs are that he will be developing into an elite NHL defenseman. While he has been overshadowed by fellow rookies Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar, he has a pretty spectacular debut.
Fox is 15th overall in scoring among NHL defensemen with eight goals and 42 points. His plus/minus rating of +22 is seventh best. He is doing this despite being on the second power play unit for the Blueshirts. He has 29 even strength points, two fewer than Makar and one more than Hughes despite playing fewer 5v5 minutes than both of his rivals.
Don’t forget that both Makar and Hughes had a taste of NHL hockey in 2018-19. Hughes got into five regular season games that season and Makar played in ten playoff games. It took Fox a few games to get his footing in the NHL and he played as many as 19 minutes in a game only once in the first 12 games.
While it is way too early to make bold statements about where he will end up, he could be the best Ranger defenseman since Brian Leetch. Consider this. In 70 games, Fox’s point total is one less than the best Ryan McDonagh could do in eight years in New York.
Leetch also played in an NHL when there was much more scoring than now. During his tenure in the NHL, he was one of four defensemen to score over 100 points in a season and 90 points was reached by defensemen ten times. Since 2000, Brent Burns has been the top scoring defenseman in the NHL with 83 points in 2018-19 and he is one of only three blueliners to exceed the 80 point mark in 20 seasons.
How good a trade was it?
Before the ZIbanejad deal, the trade for Ryan McDonagh was acknowledged as one of the best ever made by the Rangers. Amazingly, when the Blueshirts swapped Scott Gomez and two prospects to Montreal, the key player the Rangers got was thought to be forward Chris Higgins.
Here’s how the Daily News characterized the trade: “Sather Tuesday climbed out from under one of his worst missteps, trading center Scott Gomez – and his bloated contract – to Montreal in a seven-player deal that brings winger Chris Higgins to Broadway.” The headline on one website was “Rangers Acquire Chris Higgins For Scott Gomez .” No mention of McDonagh.
If the Zibanejad deal was highway robbery, the McDonagh deal was pure larceny. How does the Fox deal compare? First off, trading two second round picks for as close to a sure thing as Fox is good business. Some complained about the loss of the picks. Can you name the Rangers second round picks from 2011-17? Here they are: Ryan Gropp, Brandon Halverson, Boo Nieves, Christian Thomas and Ethan Werek. You have to go back to 2008 when they selected Derek Stepan to find a second round pick who became a regular in the NHL.
While that may be a reflection on lousy Rangers scouting acumen, it does hammer home that draft picks are crapshoots and there is no such thing as a sure thing after the top five picks (see Lias Andersson).
Consider the price teams have paid for top defensemen. Shea Weber for P.K. Subban. Zdeno Chara for Alexei Yashin. Seth Jones for Ryan Johansen. Tyson Barrie for Nazem Kadri. Ryan McDonagh for two first round and two second round picks.
The Fox deal has a chance to compare to the 2011 Brent Burns trade to San Jose. The Sharks got Burns and a second round pick in exchange for Charlie Coyle, Devin Setoguchi and a first round pick. Nine years later, all the Wild have to show for the deal is Ryan Donato while the Sharks ended up with a Norris Trophy winner and six-time All Star.
If Adam Fox ends up winning a Norris Trophy and becomes a perennial All-Star, this will go down as the greatest trade ever made by the New York Rangers, even better than the Zibanejad deal. And all Ranger fans need to say a silent thanks to Bruce and Tammy Fox who were former season ticket holders who made sure that their son grew up rooting for their favorite team.
light. Related Story. Too good too soon?