Rangers likely to hold on to Tony DeAngelo for the expansion draft

Anthony Scultore |

Feb 13, 2021

The New York Rangers are under no pressure to trade Tony DeAngelo. Matter of fact, unless the right deal comes along they may not move him until later this summer.

The Seattle Expansion Draft

on July 21st, the Seattle Kraken will pick one player from each team in the expansion draft. Prior to the beginning of this season, Tony DeAngelo was undoubtedly going to be protected. Things have obviously changed now.

That also meant the Blueshirts would need to expose young defenseman Libor Hajek to Seattle. While Hajek may intrigue Ron Francis and company, either Brett Howden or Julien Gauthier would’ve been more attractive.

tony deangelo trade rumors — Jan 22, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo (77) takes the ice to warm up against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Now that DeAngelo has been waived, what I can gather is that Jeff Gorton would be very comfortable letting him sit at home till later this summer. Initial reports indicated the Rangers would be willing to retain 50% of DeAngelo’s $4.8 million hit but that proved incorrect. So unless the acquiring team assumes the full cap hit (or close to it), no trade is likely.

Remember, if he isn’t selected by the Kraken in the expansion draft the Rangers can buy him out at 1/3 the contract because he’s 25 years-old. That would only be a cap charge of $383,333 in 2021-22 and $833,333 in 2022-23.

Trade maneuverability for Rangers

The Rangers also don’t have to use that open spot for Hajek. They could make a move for a defenseman at the deadline. Maybe someone like Vince Dunn, and that would allow them to protect him.

As of right now, it looks like if the Blues can’t move him they’d be exposing him to Seattle. I doubt the Blues want to lose him for nothing.

Again, this will all boil down to not just what teams are offering the Rangers in return for DeAngelo. It will be about taking on the contract.

In terms of the cap, the Rangers are better off buying out DeAngelo and taking the $383K cap charge. It makes more sense than eating $2.4 million and losing a net $2 million in cap space for next season.