With the uncertainty of Ryan Ellis’s health and GM Chuck Fletcher being adamant that his team is going to aggressively retool, the Philadelphia Flyers have acquired right-handed defenseman Tony DeAngelo from the Carolina Hurricanes.
TRADE: We have acquired Tony DeAngelo and a 7th round pick (220th overall) in this year’s draft from Carolina in exchange for our 4th round pick (101st overall) in 2022, 3rd round pick in 2023 (the lowest of the three picks) and a 2nd round pick in 2024. https://t.co/gCrZfPCx7L
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 8, 2022
For the blueliner, the Flyers are sending a 2024 second-, 2023 third-, and 2022 fourth-round pick to the Hurricanes.
Strictly on the ice, DeAngelo is a 26-year-old defenseman that is currently a restricted free agent just one year away from hitting the open market. Through stints at three different NHL clubs — we’ll get to why teams keep on trading him — he has put up 157 points in 270 games, most recently earning a 51-point campaign in his single year playing in Carolina.
While the Flyers are certainly a little short of cap space — they currently have just over $5 million to spend — it is assumed that with any deal made, and depending on his health, Ellis will start the season on the Long-Term Injury Reserve, to clear some cap. That will of course be needed, as Philadelphia immediately signed the RFA to a two-year, $10-million ($5-million AAV) contract, keeping him through the 2023-24 season.
DeAngelo extension with the Flyers: 2 x $5M AAV
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 8, 2022
Now, DeAngelo is not without his massive, grotesque warts off the ice that he insists are just minor blemishes. In any workplace, the young blueliner would be out of chances by now, and should be, but this is the NHL where criminal scandals are covered up and assholes get loads of opportunities. He has spent his hockey career punching his goaltender, throwing social media tantrums when former president Donald Trump was banned from Twitter, and trying to cover up his prior OHL suspension for using racial slurs on the ice, among other things. Because of this, he was banished from the league for less than a single year, after being bought out by the New York Rangers, and then was signed on a one-year deal with the Hurricanes; as they decided that the hit in PR was worth whatever he could bring on the ice. We can guess that the Flyers are willing to do the same here.
It will be tough to look over this one, no matter how many games they win.
