More on the Tony DeAngelo situation

There have been some developments in the Anthony DeAngelo situation.  The Rangers placed him on waivers early Sunday meaning he is destined for the taxi squad or Hartford.  Rick  Carpiniello of The Athletic (subscription required) is reporting that there was indeed an altercation between DeAngelo and goalie Alexandar Georgiev after the game.

The incident allegedly occurred in the tunnel leading to the locker room right after the game ended.  It was quickly broken up, though Georgiev was held out of practice Sunday for “maintenance.”   If he sustained any kind of injury from a physical confrontation with DeAngelo, placing the defenseman on waivers would seem to be an inadequate response with a suspension much more likely.

David Quinn wouldn’t confirm the incident to Carpiniello, but did address the waivers situation.  He told The Athletic   “There’s always rumors, as you know, I’m not going to address rumors. This isn’t about one incident. It’s not about one thing. It’s a situation the organization felt was best at this current time and we’ll see how the situation plays out.

“It’s part of the business. It’s a decision we made. You’re always sitting down, evaluating your organization. It’s something we did. We’ll see how it plays out. … I don’t want to get into specifics. In 24 hours we’ll probably be able to be more specific and address the situation differently.”

Any incident would have happened right after the Sidney Crosby game winning goal that came 13 seconds after the mix up between Georgiev and DeAngelo.

What should have happened is Georgiev should have left the puck for DeAngelo to try to clear, but instead he put it into the corner away from the defenseman.   With Georgiev with his  back to the play, it would be up to DeAngelo to tell the goalie what to do.  Not only that, DeAngelo then screened Georgiev on the game winning goal (though it wasn’t much of a screen).

Quinn was asked about it after the game and he said he couldn’t hear what was said between the two players.  He also gave no hints that there had been any issues with the players after the game, instead focusing on their lousy play.

In another development, DeAngelo was not at practice today, a further indication that this was disciplinary and not just a demotion to the taxi squad.  Quinn told Carpiniello that Tony Bitetto will make his debut on Monday replacing DeAngelo and playing with Brendan Smith.

If DeAngelo’s days as a  Ranger are numbered, they could choose to bury him in the minor leagues. It wouldn’t provide for any kind of cap relief windfall, as the would save only $1,075,000 of his $4.3 million cap hit.

If DeAngelo is left to languish in the minor leagues, that would mean that the Rangers would have over $16 million in dead money in their cap hit mostly due to buyouts.  That’s an outrageous number and something that Jeff Gorton should have to answer for.

A much better option would be to try to find a taker for DeAngelo in a trade.  They would probably need to sweeten the pot by picking up the maximum 50% of his salary.   That would still represent a $2.15 million salary cap savings.  If they are looking to trade him, that would be one reason why there was no suspension.

To say that the team is in turmoil is an understatement.  It’s nothing a winning streak cannot resolve, but until they do that, look for more non-hockey related headlines in the coming days.