We reporter not long ago that Tony DeAngelo being placed on waivers by the New York Rangers came as a bit of a surprise, despite the fact the expensive defenseman wasn’t performing up to expectations so far this season. Updates on that report now note the ultimate reason DeAngelo was waived had more to do with an altercation with a teammate than anything DeAngelo was or was not doing on the ice.
Related: Rangers Reach Breaking Point, Place DeAngelo on Waivers
As per a report by Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic, “The last straw for Tony DeAngelo and the Rangers apparently occurred moments after he was on the ice for the overtime goal that gave Pittsburgh a 5-4 overtime win on Saturday night at the Garden.” The scribe adds:
Three sources have confirmed to The Athletic that there was indeed an altercation involving DeAngelo and goalie Alexandar Georgiev in the tunnel that leads to the Rangers’ locker room. Incidentally, Georgiev was held out of practice for “maintenance” on Sunday. The altercation was quickly broken up.
The Rangers have not confirmed or denied the story and have yet to make a public comment on the matter. Rangers head coach David Quinn said, “I’m not going to address rumors”, adding that DeAngelo’s demotion isn’t about one incident. “It’s a situation the organization felt was best at this current time and we’ll see how the situation plays out,” he said.
DeAngelo Likely Would Have Been Waived Regardless
The coach’s comments are likely accurate in that DeAngelo might have been waived regardless of a dust-up with another player. He’s been downright terrible this season and last night, he was on the ice for four of Pittsburgh’s five goals. So too, thanks to DeAngelo’s constant need to be on social media and reported other issues, the team was starting to realize they had a very immature player on their roster and his drama was a distraction for the team.
No one should be surprised really. The blueliner has been suspended twice in the OHL for violating the league’s harassment, abuse and diversity policies and suspended once in juniors. Even more, he was suspended as part of the Coyotes organization for abuse of an official. In other words, he was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.
The Rangers have decided it best to move on and hope the Georgiev matter is the only DeAngelo explosion they have to deal with this season.
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