DeAngelo Adds Reinforcement, Power Play Skills to Isles Blueline

The New York Islanders added more depth to the blueline by bringing in defenseman Tony DeAngelo.

The 29-year-old made his Islanders – and season debut - on Saturday, logging 25:07 TOI, with six shot attempts (two on goal, four attempts blocked) and two blocked shots.

“I thought Tony did a great job, he came in and just played his game,” Mathew Barzal said. “When you have a guy with high IQ like that, he can play off instincts and I thought he did that.”

The right-handed, puck-moving defenseman signed a contract for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. With both Dobson (lower body) and Ryan Pulock’s injury (upper body, IR), the Islanders will rely on DeAngelo more heavily.

“They’re huge parts of our teams and our defense core,” Adam Pelech said of Dobson and Pulock. “It’s going to be a next man up mentality, guys have done a great job all year stepping in for injured players and it’s no different now. It’s fortunate timing with Tony coming in, he did an incredible job the other night.”

DeAngelo has been a power-play specialist in his career spanning parts of nine NHL seasons, recording 13 goals and 89 points on the man advantage.

On Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, DeAngelo brought life to the power play, which recorded three shots on goal.

DeAngelo quarterbacked a power play unit that logged 1:46 on the Isles first opportunity. Of the six minutes of power play time the Isles had on Saturday, drawing three penalties, DeAngelo led the unit with 5:15 TOI on the man advantage.

“He sees the play, he’s been an offensive guy for his whole career,” Barzal said of DeAngelo. “On the power play the other night, he’s dragging guys in and opening up space, moving the puck well. He’s got great instincts and we’re lucky to have him.”

DeAngelo played 34 games with SKA St. Petersburgh in the KHL before the opportunity on Long Island.

“I’m not going to change my game, I still have to play with poise and patience and confidence, but the touches will come,” DeAngelo said. “To get a chance to come home and jump in the lineup that quick, it’s good luck and I’m grateful and fortunate.”

Adjusting to a new system is challenging for any player, but the message from Head Coach Patrick Roy was for DeAngelo to play his game and work on tweaks in practices.

“When I met with him, I said just go and play free out there,” Roy said. “The structure that we’re using is pretty much the same as Carolina, so there’s nothing new for him. Maybe some differences here and there but I thought he did very well.”

DeAngelo played parts of four seasons with the New York Rangers (2017-21), two seasons with the Hurricanes (2021-22 and 2023-24) and one with the Philadelphia Flyers (2022-23), so the Islanders have seen a lot of DeAngelo in divisional matchups over the years.

“We all know he’s a great player, we’ve played a lot against him over the years so I’m not surprised,” Pelech said. “Super impressed by him.”