Story by
Why Rangers long offseason might be blessing in disguise for Adam Fox
- Story by
- Why Rangers long offseason might be blessing in disguise for Adam Fox
Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
One would be hard-pressed to find anyone around the New York Rangers – players, front office, fans – who are happy that the Blueshirts missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs, capping a disastrous season that followed a Presidents Trophy-winning effort in 2023-24.
Whether admitted or not, though, the rare extended summer might just pay big benefits for one of the club's pillars next season.
Advertisement
Top defenseman Adam Fox was not bad in 2024-25, finishing with 10 goals and 51 assists to go with a plus-9 rating in 74 games. As usual, underlying metrics showed him to be an elite possession driver, with the 2021 Norris Trophy winner posting a career-best 55.7 expected goal share, per Natural Stat Trick .
Despite the strong stats, however, something was – and has been – off with Fox. Never known for his skating, Fox nevertheless seemed to lack jump and confidence, less sure of himself than the version that calmly controlled play at the top of the offensive zone on power plays, so easily able to overcome his lack of quickness with smarts and outstanding hockey sense in seasons past.
Related: Rangers young defenseman is 'built to adapt,' could be key to offseason strategy
Alarming 4 Nations performance exposed Adam Fox's diminished play
David Kirouac-Imagn Images
The dip in Fox's game was never more apparent than in his nightmarish 4 Nations Faceoff performance in February. Among the first six players selected to the United States squad last summer, Fox turned out to be one of the more disappointing U.S. players in the tournament, when he struggled to defend against some of the best players in the world.
Advertisement
His lack of speed and mobility was sorely exposed, and the high-level hockey mind wasn't nearly enough to make up for it this time, as it has been in allowing him to grow into one of the best all-around defensemen in the NHL over six seasons. Fox didn't record a point and was minus-2 in four games. Team USA coach Mike Sullivan, who's now also Fox's coach with the Rangers , played him for 17:05 TOI in the tournament final that was decided in overtime against Canada – the lowest mark for any U.S. defenseman.
So what's wrong? It doesn't make much sense to suggest that Fox's ability to think the game at a such a high level is somehow in decline. What's much more likely is that the problem was physical – and could be solved by the extra down time the Rangers are getting this summer.
The first key date is Nov. 2, 2023, when Fox sustained the dreaded "lower-body" injury on a questionable knee-on-knee collision with Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho . Fox left the game after playing 6:01, and was placed on long-term injured reserve shortly after. After missing the required 10 games and 24 days, he returned Nov. 29 that season.
Though he went back to piling up assists in short order, Fox suffered through a 17-game goal drought and was clearly trying to find himself physically. He managed to play 72 games and put up 73 points in 2023-24, and Fox appeared to be close to 100 percent when the top-seeded Rangers began the playoffs against the Washington Capitals , finishing with 22 points in his final 18 regular-season contests.
Advertisement
Then on May 11, 2023, in Game 4 of what turned out to be a Rangers sweep against the Capitals, Fox re-aggravated his injury after an incident with Nick Jensen . His postseason performance dipped accordingly; he played all 16 postseason games, but managed just eight points (all assists), and the Rangers ultimately fell short in the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers .
Unfortunately for Fox, time wasn't on his side to get right, even after the Rangers were eliminated. Having gutted out heavy minutes throughout the 12 games that followed his injury, the Rangers deep playoff run didn't end until June 1.
Reporting to camp barely three months later, and with the season starting Oct. 9, Fox faced another gauntlet – a compressed 2024-25 NHL schedule to accommodate the Four Nations. Of course, he didn't get the two weeks off during the tournament, either, since he was a participant.
Advertisement
Add it up, and you get a player who sustained two knee injuries in relatively short order, received very little time to get fully healthy over the next calendar year – during which he played even more hockey than usual. Viewed through that lens, it's probably not a surprise that all of it finally came to a head at Four Nations for Fox.
Related: Why Rangers veteran was 'honestly shocked' to see how good a player Matt Rempe is
Rangers coach Mike Sullivan has faith Adam Fox will rebound in 2025-26
Peter Carr/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Sullivan insisted last week there's no reason to worry about Fox.
"I think he's an elite player in this league. His body of work certainly suggests that," the new Rangers coach said at his introductory conference Thursday. "I look forward to the opportunity to work with Adam.
Advertisement
"We're gonna push him to try to be at his very best."
Sullivan's faith aside, there seems to be a good chance that Fox closing out an exhausting run of hockey April 17 – more than five weeks earlier than the June 1 conclusion in 2024 – might turn out to be the best thing that could have happened to him. It's also worth remembering that Fox sustained a likely shoulder injury against the New York Islanders on Feb. 25, his third game after Four Nations, that sidelined him for eight contests.
Fox probably needs extra time off as much as any player in the League right now to get fully healthy. Playoff games might have been preferable for everyone else in the Rangers organization, but for a group that was anything but a Stanley Cup contender this season, they might ultimately have been detrimental to Fox's 2025-26 – and thus, detrimental to his team's fortunes.
At 27, Fox should be entering the prime years of his career, regardless of how good his first six seasons have gone. Rendered a lesser version of himself at times over the past 17 months, the Rangers dismal 2024-25 might turn out to be a blessing in disguise for their exceptional blueliner.
