Hard Conversations Ahead — Insider Shares Latest on Adam Fox’s Future in New York

Adam Fox turned heads around the hockey world with comments following his first game back from injury last week. When asked about his future with the New York Rangers, the star defenseman was rather noncommittal, saying that it’s a conversation for when the season is over.

Those questions arose amid reports of Fox’s somewhat strained relationship with HC Mike Sullivan and GM Chris Drury, combined with Drury having sent out a retool letter while he was out of the lineup.

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While nobody expects Fox to be on the move before the March 6 trade deadline, all that’s gone on clearly hasn’t sat well with him, so those hard conversations are certainly coming. With so much swirling around the situation, Rangers insider Vince Z. Mercogliano detailed the latest in a recent article for The Athletic.

Mercogliano wrote:

“As Fox insinuated with Thursday’s comments, hard conversations are coming. There have already been multiple meetings between Fox and Drury in recent weeks, according to a league source, but Fox wants to see how Drury handles the coming months and assess the state of the roster this summer before making a full-throated commitment to stick it out, according to a different league source. That’s not to say he’s unwilling to endure a transition period, but he’s looking for evidence that the Rangers have a way out of this self-inflicted mess,”

The 28-year-old Fox is in year four of the seven-year, $66.5 million extension he signed with the Rangers back in 2021. He’s been productive in limited action this season, with 28 points (four goals, 24 assists) produced in just 32 games played.

From inconsistent play, struggles at the 4 Nations, missing the Olympics, and injuries, it’s been a frustrating few years for Fox, to say the least. That said, he’s still in the prime of his career and has proven to be a top-five defenseman in the league when on his game. Because of that, if the Rangers were to shop him, there would be no shortage of interest.

As Mercogliano noted, Fox’s future in New York will ultimately come down to the bigger picture in New York: Are the Rangers truly retooling around their core—him, Igor Shesterkin, J.T. Miller, and Mika Zibanejad—to get back into contention as soon as possible? Or have things deteriorated to the point where that reality isn’t even possible and a full-blown rebuild is coming?

That will be the deciding factor for Fox. However, given what Drury has done in recent years, it’s hard for fans or players to have much faith that a quick turnaround is on the horizon. As a result, this is a situation worth keeping a close eye on as the offseason approaches.

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