Former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton opens up on the Tony DeAngelo situation

It's been quite the calendar year for NHL defenseman Tony DeAngelo. 

DeAngelo has seen himself kicked off of Twitter for promoting COVID-19 disinformation and for promoting former US President Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen by Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. He was then kicked off the New York Rangers for instigating a fight with teammate Alexandar Georgiev. His contract was bought out and DeAngelo was essentially kicked to the curb until the Carolina Hurricanes signed him as a free agent this offseason. 

Now, former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton, who was with the organization during DeAngelo's time with the team, opened up on the Strick and Cam Podcast with NHL reporter Andy Strickland on what it was like working with the controversial defenseman.

Check it out:

"He's a Philly guy and he's pretty passionate about the way he thinks the world should work and we understood that. But sometimes when he crossed the line I had to call him and say, "Tony, Enough. Is it really worth it to have all these fans Tweet back at you? Do you really want to Tweet back at them and have a dialogue? Is that really going to be something that works for us? We are in the entertainment business and people are paying for tickets here, right? So you try to have a rational conversation and talk to him on that level."

"The thing about Tony is that he's actually very engaging, funny person. It's just that sometimes turning it off is something that he has to learn. But his teammates actually really like him. He's funny, he's engaging, he's tough, he's a good player... it's just every now and then he has to catch himself before he goes over the line. I had more than one team call me and ask me about him and I told them... he's  a good guy. I think that what happened sometimes with the Rangers is we were a young team and we could have used a few older, veteran leadership type players that could more hold a guy like accountable and make him fall in line a little better and we didn't necessarily have enough of that. But I told teams that if you have that, you're going to get a guy with skill who can put up 60 points and will fight for you."

I've got to say that I'm not sure if I'm buying what Gorton is selling here, especially when it comes to DeAngelo's popularity amongst his teammates. I didn't really hear many Rangers players crying over DeAngelo's removal from the team. The fact of the matter is that he's an incredibly gifted athlete but if he doesn't solve some very basic behavioral issues, there will be a "DeAngelo Situation" wherever he goes in the NHL.