One player who doesn't get anywhere near the respect he deserves is New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox. Injuries this past season have plenty to do with it, but even with only playing 55 games, the defenseman managed to record 53 points on a team that didn't come anywhere close to meeting expectations.
Fox is still one of the best powerplay defensemen in the world, but losing Artemi Panarin depleted the firepower around him with the man advantage. The Panarin trade was thought to be the first domino to fall of many in a potential retool for the Rangers. Still, after Vincent Trocheck stayed put at the trade deadline, the organization is now in a holding pattern.
It's hard for Rangers fans to accept a full-blown rebuild with some of the pieces they have in place. Fox and Igor Shesterkin give them a solid core when healthy, while Alexis Lafrenière is starting to come into his own up front and finished the year strong with 24 points over the final two months. With Gabe Perreault also stepping up for New York, the loss of Panarin suddenly doesn't seem as daunting.
The Rangers were about to enter a rebuild before adding Panarin, but his presence prompted the organization to shift course and attempt to contend. New York did have some good seasons, including a President's Trophy, but couldn't get over the hump when it mattered the most in the postseason. During that time, Fox was in the prime of his career, but it might be hard for him to justify doing it all over again.
Can Adam Fox sit through another retool?
Fox had some great moments as a Ranger, including a Norris Trophy in the 2020-21 season. However, for a player who wants to win above all else, the team didn't fully get them there because they couldn't fully buy into the rebuild at the start of his tenure. If New York had managed to add a couple of extra pieces around their deep core, things would've gone a lot smoother, but they rushed it and paid the price in the playoffs.
With Lafrenière and Perreault's late-season success in 2025-26, the Rangers are in danger of making the same mistake. All of a sudden, Trocheck may not be as much of a trade piece as some thought, and New York is thinking about adding to make another run at relevance. It could pay off, but it could also end in a lot of empty promises like the last five seasons.
Is Fox willing to go through the same cycle of getting close but coming up short, remaining the afterthought in his era of offensive defensemen? There would be many teams closer to tasting the Stanley Cup than the Rangers, who could use Fox's services, and the defenseman might consider going into business for himself and finding a new home, as we are now seeing in Detroit with Dylan Larkin and, potentially, Toronto with Auston Matthews.
