Dreger: NYR to buy out Tony DeAngelo in the Summer.

[GAGLine]

Should've never been benched. Is Tony an asshole? Maybe. But you know who's a bigger asshole? Quinn.

You don't f***ing bench a guy who just put up 50+ points as a defenseman the season prior in a SHORTENED SEASON for a few bad shifts. He's earned the right at that point to work through whatever on ice issues are effecting his game. He was definitely playing poorly at the beginning of the year. So was half the team. I didn't see Quinn benching Zibanejad or Strome who were both playing like hot ass to start the year.

Listen, I'm not in the locker room. Maybe he told Quinn to f*** himself before the benching. From what is visible to my eyes as a fan, it was a boneheaded power-trip "everybody has to earn their minutes" move by Quinn and Tony subsequently handled it poorly. If I put up 50+ points the year prior and found myself benched/scratched in the first 5 games of an unparalleled COVID year I would've told the coach to go f*** himself too, and I'd be 100% justified in doing so. It's bush league, it's trash, whatever else you want to call it, coaching

You're right, You weren't in the locker room. Neither was I. Neither of us knows the full extent of what happened. What we do know is that Tony did things that got him in trouble with the coaches and management, to the point that they preferred to waive him rather than try to get some value for him in a trade.

Maybe you should take a step back and stop blaming Quinn for everything. He didn't bench Tony because of poor play. He benched him because of whatever he said to the ref that earned him the extra 2 minutes in that first game. It's not the coach's job to coddle players, to enable their bad behavior. Who gives a shit that he put up 50 points the year before? That doesn't give him a free pass to act however he wants.

 

[ThreeLeftSkates]

Free Tony! Could see the Islanders signing him after he's bought out and taking them to the next level, winning multiple Cups as the Rangers continue to languish in the depths of despair. Would be poetic justice and well deserved for everyone involved.

Never gonna happen.