July 28: The contract has been officially announced by the Hurricanes. One year and $1MM for DeAngelo, who is still earning some of his salary from the Rangers as well. GM Don Waddell released a short statement about his newest defenseman:
Tony is a smooth-skating, puck-moving defenseman. We’ve done a lot of background work on this player and we are confident that he can be a positive addition to our group.
July 27: The Carolina Hurricanes are closing in on a one-year deal with recently bought-out defenseman Tony DeAngelo, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. Seravalli notes that there was a lot of interest in DeAngelo, but that the opportunity to play for head coach Rod Brind’Amour was appealing to him. The deal is not yet signed and no financial details have been reported at this time.
It will create a public relations mess in Carolina to bring in DeAngelo, who was sent away from the Rangers organization this season after several incidents involving teammates. The last one was between DeAngelo and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, which led to the defensemen being placed on waivers. At the time, GM Jeff Gorton explained that it wasn’t just one incident that led to the decision, instead telling reporters that he had warned the defenseman “if his name came up in anything at all” he would find himself on waivers. DeAngelo cleared and would not play for the Rangers again.
While a trade was explored, DeAngelo declined a contract termination that would have allowed him to sign elsewhere last season, instead forcing the Rangers into a buyout this summer. He will earn one-third of the $5.3MM that was remaining on his contract with the Rangers after clearing unconditional waivers a few days ago, but should this deal go through, will now be able to collect a paycheck from the Hurricanes as well.
There isn’t anyone that doubts DeAngelo’s offensive ability, as the 25-year-old defenseman recorded 15 goals and 53 points in the 2019-20 season. He earned Norris Trophy votes that season after playing so well, which has always been the trade-off when it comes to him. Even going back to his junior career, DeAngelo has been embroiled in controversy with his teammates. Whether he can make that side of the game work in Carolina remains to be seen, but it appears as though the organization will try.