In just his second NHL season, Adam Fox has emerged as one of the Rangers’ most well-rounded players.
The 22-year-old Jericho, N.Y., native quarterbacks the team’s top power-play unit, currently leads the team in average ice time with 24:29 per game, and his plus-21 rating since Dec. 31, 2019, is second among defensemen behind only Lightning star Victor Hedman.
Asked following practice Sunday if his increased workload can be credited to his familiarity with the league and team or his jump in confidence, Fox said it’s a little bit of both.
“I think once you get more comfortable with the pace of the game and your teammates and where people are going to be, I think it becomes a little easier,” Fox said. “And I think with that comes confidence. It’s not to say it’s easy, but I think all those factors kind of come into play. It definitely builds confidence and allows you to play a little more comfortably.”
Head coach David Quinn has relied heavily on Fox of late. With injuries to Jack Johnson and Brendan Smith, as well as Tony DeAngelo’s banishment, the defensive core has steadily dwindled, pushing more responsibility onto the top four — Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller.
While Fox has been highlighted for his offensive contributions, with seven points (one goal, six assists) through the first 10 games, Quinn has pointed out that the Harvard product has been stellar defensively as well.
“He’s very easygoing,” Quinn said this past week. “Not a lot rattles him, pressure doesn’t get to him. He’s pretty cool, calm and collected off the ice, as well. But our guys recognize what type of player he is — and I think not only our guys, but players across the league.
“It’s not just his teammates that are a little bit in awe of him from time to time and some of the things he does; I think the opposing team does, as well.”
Fox has added penalty killer to his résumé recently. He’s logged the fifth-highest amount of ice time while the Rangers are shorthanded with 22:31 and he was on the ice for the team’s lone short-handed goal in the 5-4 overtime loss to the Penguins on Jan. 30.
“I want to be a guy who’s trusted in all situations,” Fox said, adding that he picked the brains of Marc Staal, Smith and Trouba last season about penalty killing.
The Rangers’ penalty kill has been one of the strongest — and most consistent — aspects of their game. They rank 10th in the league, stifling 81.6 percent of the power plays they’ve faced, giving up only seven goals in the process.
Over the last three games, the Rangers’ penalty-kill units have gone a perfect 14-for-14. The last power-play goal they gave up was in the third period of the 3-2 overtime win against the Sabres on Jan. 28.
“Our penalty kill has been really good and it’s been pretty good all year even when statistically we’ve given up a couple of goals, it was frustrating because we thought we do a lot of good things,” Quinn said. “We’ve got a little bit more depth killing penalties, goaltending has been good during the kills, which is huge. It was a bunch of reasons why our kills been good, basically throughout the year, but even in particular the last three or four games.”