Tony DeAngelo played his last game with the New York Rangers, general manager Jeff Gorton told reporters on Monday.
Gorton said the 25-year-old defender “was unable to move on” from the bench in the second and third games of the season – a decision made by coach David Quinn after DeAngelo committed an unsportsmanlike penalty in the first game.
“I told him that if his name came up on anything, he would be exempt,” said Gorton. “I felt that I needed to be true to my word, the word of the organization.”
Gorton confirmed that there was a post-game clash between DeAngelo and teammate Alexandar Georgiev after Saturday’s 5-4 loss in overtime to Pittsburgh, as ESPN reported on Sunday. The organization saw that incident as the last straw.
Georgiev is fine, said Gorton, and is scheduled to be Igor Shesterkin’s backup in Monday’s game against the Penguins.
Rangers put DeAngelo on exemption on Sunday, but he was not claimed by the other 30 NHL teams. It was a surprising change, considering that New York signed a $ 9.6 million contract extension with DeAngelo for two years last October.
While DeAngelo is technically on the New York taxi squad, Gorton said DeAngelo will stay at home until the team can negotiate. GM said the team did not intend to cancel DeAngelo’s contract.
DeAngelo was fourth in scoring among all NHL defenders, with 15 goals and 38 assists in the 2019-20 season, in which he finished 12th in the vote for the Norris Trophy.
In addition to his passing as a healthy scratch, DeAngelo has been fighting this season. He was on the ice for four of Pittsburgh’s goals in the 5-4 defeat in overtime, including the winner of the game, which Georgiev let in. According to sources, DeAngelo said a comment to Georgiev as he walked into the tunnel afterwards, which caused physical strife. It was quickly divided by comrades, the source said.
Chosen 19th overall in 2014 by Tampa Bay Lightning, DeAngelo also played for Arizona Coyotes and three AHL teams.
DeAngelo has a history of disciplinary issues. He was suspended twice during his junior career at OHL, including for violating league policy covering “homophobic, racist and sexist language” and abuse of officials. He was also suspended for three NHL games in 2017, while with the Coyotes, for physical abuse of officers.
DeAngelo was negotiated with Rangers in 2017, along with choice 7 of the 2017 draft (which New York used to select Lias Andersson), in a deal that sent Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to Arizona.
“We did a lot of research, we talked to a lot of people about Tony before we got him,” said Gorton. “We did our homework, we were comfortable. If you look at your history with us, I think you know that your season spoke for itself last year. There were a few things along the way, but really nothing to suggest anything from your past. in juniors, there is nothing like it that has never happened to us. “