New York Rangers put defenseman Tony DeAngelo on waivers.

A stunning move from the Rangers.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
New York Rangers put defenseman Tony DeAngelo on waivers.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

One of the National Hockey League's most controversial personalities is suddenly up for grabs.

New York Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo has courted controversy during his NHL career by being arguably the most front-facing player in the entire league through his use of social media. DeAngelo has been an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump and this has often led him to engage in arguments online with fans and pundits, and given that most hockey players tend to keep to themselves when it comes to social media this made DeAngelo stand out. 

I suspect that this has caused no shortage of headaches for the New York Rangers, including the hundreds and hundreds of questions they have been asked about their players' behavior online, and it seems as though the Rangers may have finally decided that DeAngelo's talents on the ice are simply not worth the trouble that his personality brings to the team.

According to a breaking news report from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, DeAngelo has been placed on waivers Sunday by the Rangers. This effectively leaves DeAngelo vulnerable to being claimed by any team across the league, but it won't be as simple as simply adding a defenseman to your roster. Deangelo is currently on a 2 year deal that carries an average annual value of $4.8 million, which is a pretty sizeable cap hit to absorb in these trying times of the pandemic. A team that could obviously use Deangelo on their roster would be the Pittsburgh Penguins who have been decimated by injuries to their blue line, but the aforementioned cap considerations I believe would take them out of the running unless more of their players are headed for long term injured reserve. 

DeAngelo is also a very talented offensive defenseman but as is often the case with these types of players he does suffer from some rather glaring defensive liabilities at times. These liabilities have resulted in him being burned by opposing offenses on more than one occasion and have often resulted in him being the target of criticism among the Rangers very own fan base. 

It will be very interesting to see what happens with DeAngelo over the next 24 hours.

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