New York Islanders fans are up in arms after the team announced Friday that they would be signing divisive American defenseman Tony DeAngelo to a contract through the end of the season.
After an injury to defenseman Noah Dobson, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello decided to sign DeAngelo to a contract with a prorated league minimum salary of $775,000.
You will need to approve waivers for the deal to go through.
DeAngelo had recently played with SKA St. Petersburg of the Continental Hockey League in Russia. The SKA terminated DeAngelo's contract earlier this month, and the defenseman wanted to return home for “family reasons.”
DeAngelo is a divisive figure in the hockey community and has been at the center of multiple scandals in the past, including racist, sexist and homophobic comments, fights with teammates and abuse of officials.
When the move was announced on social media, hockey fans almost universally condemned the signing.
The New York Islanders have signed a deal with controversial defenseman Tony DeAngelo
DeAngelo's contract was purchased by Russian KHL team SKA St. Petersburg this month
Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello watches practice at the team's training facility.
“A deeply, deeply unserious organization,” one Islanders fan posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Another Isles fan said, “I often wonder why a merciful god endlessly punishes my sports fandom.”
A fan of the rival New Jersey Devils posted: “Lou really saw that not much was happening in hockey today and decided to throw a Molotov cocktail through the NHL offices.”
Some particularly calm fans tweeted: 'BURN UBS SAND TO THE GROUND' or 'I'm fucking sick.' Fuck this disgusting piece of shit. HE IS SCUM. IT'S LOCKER ROOM POISON. Screw you, LOU.'
Another tweeted: “Why the fuck would you do that?”
“A good reminder not to judge a book by its cover,” posted sports journalist James Duffy. “Yes, Tony DeAngelo is a terrible defenseman who is incapable of playing at the NHL level in his own zone. BUT, he is also a notoriously horrible teammate who basically ran out of several locker rooms. Two sides of each coin, folks.
Hockey analytics guru Rachel Doerrie tweeted: “If you had told me DeAngelo and Lou Lamoriello would be in the same organization, I wouldn't have believed you.” This happens in two ways: it straightens out and we don't see nonsense on social media or it doesn't last more than a month.'
Roy Bellamy, hockey podcaster and senior producer of 'The Dan Le Batard Show' simply called him a 'terrible signing.'
Islanders and sports fans almost universally condemned the team's signing.
DeAngelo is viewed as an offensive defenseman. According to hockey analyst @JFreshHockeyDeAngelo is in the 76th percentile in even-strength offense and the zeroth percentile in even-strength defense.
As an amateur player, the New Jersey native was suspended on two separate occasions while in the Ontario Canadian Junior Hockey League for violating the league's Harassment and Abuse/Diversity Policy by using racist, sexist and/or homophobic language. . even once when he abused his own teammate. The league did not specify what language it used.
He was also suspended multiple times in the OHL for abuse of officials.
Despite these issues, DeAngelo was selected 19th overall in 2014 by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was traded to the Arizona Coyotes before playing a game for the organization.
In Arizona, DeAngelo was suspended for three games and fined more than $14,000 for physically assaulting a referee in January 2017.
Arizona traded him to the New York Rangers in June 2017, where he played without serious incident for several seasons.
It all came to an end on January 30, 2021, when DeAngelo got into a fight with his own goaltender, Alexandar Georgiev, in the tunnel following a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The next day, the Rangers fired him and assigned him to the taxi squad; General manager Jeff Gorton said DeAngelo had “played his last game for the Rangers.” Over the summer, he received unconditional waivers in order to opt out of his contract.
DeAngelo in a January 30, 2021 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He would get into a physical fight with his own goalkeeper after this match and would not play for the Rangers again.
DeAngelo is taken off the ice after attacking Tampa Bay Lightning forward Corey Perry in May 2023. He was suspended two games for this incident. He was later purchased by the Flyers.
DeAngelo plays the puck in his second season with the Carolina Hurricanes in May 2024
As a free agent, he signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in July 2021, and fans initially rejected his inclusion in the team.
After one season with the Hurricanes, DeAngelo was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in July 2022. During that tenure in Philadelphia, he notably attacked Lightning forward Corey Perry and was suspended for two games.
Philadelphia bought out his contract that summer. DeAngelo became the first player in National Hockey League history to have his contract bought out twice by two different teams.
He returned to Carolina on a one-year contract in July 2023. He played in 31 games that season and was not re-signed, reaching free agency. After not receiving a suitable offer from any team, he made the jump to Russia.
Off the ice, DeAngelo is an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump and has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of the Covid-19 pandemic in the past.
He was active on Twitter until he was banned following the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol building. He has since returned to the site, now known as X.
Earlier this season, DeAngelo was supposed to appear on the hockey podcast 'What Chaos!' – where he was to engage in a pointed argument with a hockey writer for The Athletic, Dom Luszczyszyn. After the social media reaction, Luszczyszyn and the podcast canceled the appearance.
Throughout his current NHL career, DeAngelo has played in 371 games, scoring 48 goals and 210 points and accumulating 329 penalty minutes.