Tony DeAngelo enjoyed the best season of his NHL career with the New York Rangers in 2019-20, putting up 15 goals and 53 points in just 68 games in the COVID-19 shorted campaign.
But his time with the Blueshirts was cut short abruptly the next year; he appeared in just six contests before getting in a physical altercation with then-Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev after a 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the end of January, 2021.
A reported fight between the American and Russian led to DeAngelo being placed on waivers, with then-general manager Jeff Gorton saying that the controversial defenseman had “played his last game for the Rangers.”
The 28-year-old opened up about the altercation over three years later.
“It was a tough game, he struggled, I struggled in the game. …I yelled at Georgie [after the game], ‘making a bleeping save,'” DeAngelo told Jonny Lazarus and Colby Cohen on the Morning Cuppa Hockey podcast earlier this week. “Obviously I started it. …Georgie was running hot after the game, he struggled in the game, and he turned around and fired a headbutt at me.
“I got a cut on the side of my face. So I just hit him quick with the stick, on the goalie mask. It goes a little bit into the locker room, nothing really happens, nobody is going to let guys fight in there, so guys break it up. It ends.”
Tony DeAngelo was placed on waivers the next day
“So the stories start coming out, the next day I was told don’t come to the rink,” DeAngelo continued. “I had a feeling something was going to come there. I thought I was going to be traded, to be honest with you, and I wound up getting put on release waivers.”
DeAngelo wasn’t shocked by the move, considering the season started out “so rocky.” The offensive D-man was eventually signed by the Carolina Hurricanes in July of 2021, while Georgiev was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
In Raleigh in 2021-22, DeAngelo enjoyed another great campaign, scoring 10 goals and 51 points in 64 games while adding another 10 points in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff contests. He was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Flyers ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, playing one season in Philly before returning to the Canes as an unrestricted free agent last year.
DeAngelo is now an unsigned UFA after a tough 2023-24 season, although it’s clear he still has the ability to play in the sport’s premier league. And he revealed that there’s no bad blood between him and Georgiev.
“Me and Georgie are fine, we weren’t the best of buddies, never were the best of buddies, but I think if we had came back to the rink [the next day], everything would have been fine. Georgie came up to me the following year when I played in Carolina, shaking my hand, hugging me, saying hello. It’s just the way hockey guys are.”
Although that incident derailed DeAngelo’s career in New York, he’s still enjoyed a few successful seasons elsewhere. It’ll be interesting to see if another team takes a chance on the New Jersey native ahead of training camp.
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