Rumor: Tony DeAngelo being shopped by Rangers

It is no secret that the relationship between the New York Rangers and their young defenseman Tony DeAngelo has been on and off again like Ross and Rachel on Friends. GM Jeff Gorton may think they're on a "break" and is exploring his options in regards to the 24-year old New Jersey native.

Tony DeAngelo has blossomed into an offensive force this season, tallying 12 goals and 37 points with a plus 5 rating to his name. DeAngelo will be a RFA at the end of the year and had a brief holdout last summer with the Rangers, but ended up signing a one year 925k deal. The Rangers are deep in defense prospects and DeAngelo's next deal could be worth $4 million or more per season, the time may be now to move the rear guard. The Rangers have promising prospects on the backend Joey Keane, K'Andre Miller and Nils Lundkvist are all knocking on the door for next year for full time employment with the big club. 

Two options for the New York Rangers could be the Winnipeg Jets and the Carolina Hurricanes. TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported that the Jets and Hurricanes are both searching for top-4 defensemen. LeBrun also reported that center Jack Roslovic could be used by the Jets to acquire a defenseman. The Hurricanes have also been looking for a defenseman since Norris Trophy candidate Dougie Hamilton was lost for the season with a broken leg. Carolina is armed with six picks in the first three rounds of the 2020 draft. 

The Jets would most likely offer Roslovic and their 2nd round pick this year. Roslovic is RFA this year, but would most likely be much cheaper to sign than DeAngelo for the Rangers. The Hurricanes could offer the Rangers their own 2nd round pick back in exchange for DeAngelo(Carolina acquired NYR 2nd for Adam Fox) along with AHL prospect Julien Gauthier a 2016 1st round pick of the Hurricanes. Hurricanes GM Don Waddell may even offer his own first round pick for DeAngelo since he has Toronto's first pick this year. The Difference between the Rangers 2nd and the Hurricanes 1st this year may only be ten spots in what is considered to be a deep draft, I doubt the Rangers would say no to Carolina's 1st for DeAngelo. 

If the Rangers decide to move Tony DeAngelo they would have no shortage of teams that would be interested. Who couldn't use a right hand shot 24-year old offensive defenseman?