The New York Rangers' home opener against heated rivals, the New York Islanders, on Thursday night was a mostly forgettable night for the Blueshirts. Other than having rookies K'Andre Miller and 2020 1st overall pick Alexis Lafrenière making their NHL debuts, the Rangers did not show many signs of life against the Isles in a 4-0 losing effort at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers struggled mightily with their new-look defensive pairings, with the always.. entertaining.. Tony DeAngelo actually winding up on Mat Barzal's highlight reel after getting undressed by the Isles star, who then fired an absolute bullet past rookie goaltender Igor Shesterkin at the 13:31 mark of the 1st period to take a commanding 3-0 lead.
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The Rangers appear to have seen enough of the opening night d-pairings, shuffling the deck at practice on Friday, placing Ryan Lindgren with Jacob Trouba on the top pairing, Jack Johnson with Adam Fox in the 3 and 4 spots and the rookie Miller with veteran Brendan Smith.
If you're wondering where Tony DeAngelo is, reports have him practicing with the taxi squad on Friday after taking a very undisciplined unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the loss against the Isles, which factored into the decision to remove him from the lineup, and having Anthony Bitetto skating as the Rangers' 7th defenseman.
The 25-year-old DeAngelo registered 53 points in just 68 games for the Rangers last season, leading us to believe that the decision to remove him from the lineup is about more than just making a statement about taking a bad penalty.
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DeAngelo, a vocal Trump supporter, has seen his fair share of media coverage, mostly for his contraversial opinions, most recently regarding Twitter's decision to permanently suspend President Trump's account due to his contributions to events like the US Capitol invasion in Washington D.C. and other events to contest the results of the recent US Presidential Election.
The right-shot dman signed a two-year extension with the Rangers back in October and carries a $4.8M cap hit through 2021-22. His actual salary this season is $4.3M, but will see an increase to $5.3M in 2021-22, per Capfriendly.
