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Vegas Golden Knights: Tony DeAngelo the perfect fit for this team

By Andrew Steele-Davis

COLUMBUS, OH - DECEMBER 5: Tony DeAngelo #77 of the New York Rangers controls the puck during the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 5, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - DECEMBER 5: Tony DeAngelo #77 of the New York Rangers controls the puck during the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 5, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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CALGARY, AB – JANUARY 2: Tony DeAngelo #77 of the New York Rangers plays the puck against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on January 2, 2020 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images)
CALGARY, AB – JANUARY 2: Tony DeAngelo #77 of the New York Rangers plays the puck against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on January 2, 2020 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images) /

What DeAngelo would bring to the table

First and foremost, Tony DeAngelo is a modern-day puck-moving defenseman who boasts tremendous offensive upside and would greatly help with Vegas’ transition game.

In fairness, and we thought we would lead off with this, the Golden Knights have been much improved in that area since tweaking their defensive system back in November.

Since shifting from a man-to-man coverage to more zone coverage, the Knights have morphed into an elite team when it comes to generating offense from off the transition.

For example, they now rank 4th in the NHL in controlled entries (36.8), 4th in goals off the rush (0.68), 4th in odd-man rushes (3.8) and 2nd in rush scoring chances (7.0).

*(All stats per The Point Hockey).

That is a radical improvement across the board, particularly when you consider that the Knights ranked below average in a number of those categories before making a system tweak.

And DeAngelo would only boost the transition game further, while being able to really drive the play and generate offense.

He’s just one point away from equalling his career-high in points (30) that was set last year, while the defenseman also has a CF% of 46.2 and a oZS% of 57.2 this year.

DeAngelo has logged an average of 18:53 minutes of total ice time per game, and he would slot straight into the top four for Vegas.

There is also another and underrated benefit to trading for DeAngelo. The blueliner is a right shot which is important given that Deryk Engelland is currently the only right shot among active defensemen for Vegas, and this is likely to be the veteran’s last year.

Plus, at just 24-years-old, DeAngelo still has his peak years ahead of him and he has only just begun to scratch the surface when it comes to his potential.

DeAngelo’s $925,000 cap hit would also be manageable for the Golden Knights, although he will need to be paid during the off-season, but that particular worry can wait until then.

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