The New York Rangers were blanked by the New York Islanders on Saturday, but there is one reason for fans to be feeling happy and optimistic heading into the upcoming week. Mike Sullivan spoke with the media before the game, and he had an update on Adam Fox that has been a long time coming.
Adam Fox's return to the lineup is coming soon
Prior to the game Sullivan said, “He’s getting there. He practiced today (at) full capacity. He’ll skate with us tomorrow (at) full capacity. We’ll go from there.” The Rangers will the ice on Sunday for practice as they look to prepare for a showdown against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. The team will play again on New Year's Eve against the Washington Capitals, and I'd imagine the front office would prefer him to make his return in one of these games as opposed to doing so in the 2026 NHL Winter Classic at LoanDepot Park in Miami.
Rangers will welcome Fox back with wide open arms
Fox has far and away been the Blueshirts' best player this season, and was on his way to having a career year offensively. The one-timer, should be two-time, Norris Trophy winner had three goals, 23 assists, and 26 points in 27 games, and still is third on the team in scoring. Mika Zibanejad has three more points in 13 additional games, and Artemi Panarin has a line of 14-24-38 in 40 games.
From a "fancy stats" perspective, Fox has a dominant 62.83 GF%, a 57.16 CF%, and a 59.72 xGF% in nearly 508 minutes at 5v5 per Evolving-Hockey. The Rangers are surrendering just 1.64 goals against per 60 minutes when Fox is on the ice, and are scoring 2.77. He's been a great fit in Mike Sullivan's system, and had enjoyed being paired with Vladislav Gavrikov.
The pair has logged 450 minutes together and has a 60.12 GF%, a 56.12 CF%, and a 59.14 xGF% which as them collectively as one of the best overall pairs in the league. Other pairs with numbers like them include Detroit's duo of Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson, Utah's pair of John Marino and Nate Schmidt, and Ottawa's Artem Zub and Jake Sanderson. There are certainly others who are thriving this year, but those are the ones who have been best when looking at xGF% performance.