A sophomore slump for Adam Fox impacting this year’s report card? Nah. Instead, Fox quieted any doubters by putting up a season worthy of a Norris Trophy. Fox put up a line of 5-42-47 in 55 games, which is a 7-63-70 pace over 82 games. To say it was a career year would be lazy, since it was his second year in the NHL. But to say that Fox has quickly become one of the best defensemen in the game is not hyperbole. The Rangers struck gold with him.
From early into the season, Fox supplanted Tony DeAngelo on PP1, and the unit didn’t miss a beat in generating chances. His 21 powerplay assists were far and away the best on the team and third in the league behind Connor McDavid (28) and Victor Hedman (23).
A true three zone player, Fox averaged 24:42 TOI/game, which included 3:44 TOI/game on the powerplay and 2:36 TOI/game on the PK. Fox was very clearly the most reliable and relied upon defenseman on the Rangers.
Everything looks good
The crazy thing about Fox is that, based on the above, he was *underperforming* to his expected goals-for numbers. This means, if his play continues at this level, those offensive numbers should steadily increase. As the Rangers get better and have better coaching/deployment, this should contribute to better numbers as well.
His GAR/xGAR shows what we saw with the first chart, that his expected numbers are above his actual production. This is now a second metric that shows Fox, with better systems and a more consistent team, should continue to see his offensive production rise.
If there is any area for consistent improvement, it would be in his penalty ratio. He takes a few more penalties than he draws. But let’s be real, this is honestly nitpicking. The other area of note is the shorthanded play. This is something to keep in mind through next season. There’s nothing glaring here, just something to watch.
I’m sure you didn’t need the heatmaps to know Fox’s impact, but I wanted to show them off anyway. Fox has a net +15% impact on offense and +18% impact on defense, in terms of expected-goals. Focusing specifically on defense (at even strength), look at how that blue turns to red when he’s not on the ice.
Beyond the numbers
The numbers are one thing, but the importance he has to the team cannot be understated. He’s already a borderline elite defenseman and the true 1D the Rangers have been searching for. He’s the best defenseman this team has seen since Brian Leetch.
But the true impact Fox has is just his calm demeanor on the ice. He’s never panicking, and is always in the right spot to make the right read. Fox makes the most challenging plays look easy, and those include complicated look-offs and edgework to get around defenders to buy time. More often than not, we are mesmerized by how effortless Fox makes these plays look.
The only thing that can slow Fox down now is a contract dispute. But I don’t think the Rangers are dumb enough to let that get in the way.
2021 Adam Fox Report Card Grade: A+.
Share:
More About:Players