Hurricanes Sign Tony DeAngelo to One-Year Contract

Defenseman Tony DeAngelo returns to the Carolina Hurricanes on a one-year deal worth $1.675 million after the Philadelphia Flyers bought out his previous contract.

The Carolina Hurricanes brought back defenseman Tony DeAngelo on a one-year contract worth $1.675 million, the team announced Monday.

DeAngelo, 27, returns to the Hurricanes after the team traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers with a 2022 seventh-round draft pick for a 2022 fourth-rounder, 2023 third-rounder and 2024 second-rounder during the 2022 NHL draft.

“Tony is an elite offensive defenseman who had a great season with us in 2021-22,” Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said in a release. “We wanted to re-sign him last summer, and now we’re thrilled to bring him back to Raleigh.”

The 5-foot-11 defenseman from Sewell, N.J., recorded 11 goals, 31 assists, 42 points and a minus-27 rating in 70 games for the Flyers. He played his last game for Philadelphia on April 4 against the St. Louis Blues before being a healthy scratch for the final five games. The Flyers then bought out the remaining year of DeAngelo's contract on July 15, making him a UFA.

Carolina was expected to acquire DeAngelo from the Flyers in a trade before the draft in Nashville, but the Hurricanes reportedly had to wait until a year after the July 8, 2022, deal to reacquire someone they moved due to CBA rules. That trade never ended up happening before the buyout.

With a cap hit of $1.675 million, the Hurricanes get DeAngelo for a little more than a third of his previous contract, which paid him $5 million per season. Carolina needs all the cap savings it can get, with just under $1.7 million in cap space remaining. 

Since being drafted 19th overall in 2014 by the Arizona Coyotes, DeAngelo's been known as an offensive defenseman who can move the puck effectively yet struggle in his own zone at times. Through 340 career NHL games, he's had 45 goals and 154 assists for 199 points split between the Coyotes, New York Rangers, Canes and Flyers.

DeAngelo's been bought out twice in his career, with the New York Rangers being the other team to buy him out. He had one too many off-ice incidents in New York, which hit a breaking point after he was involved in an altercation with then-Rangers backup Alexandar Georgiev. Jeff Gorton was the Rangers' GM at the time and said DeAngelo played his last game for the club following the incident, which limited him to six games in the 2020-21 campaign.

The 2021 off-season was when the Hurricanes picked up DeAngelo for the first time, and it turned out pretty well for him, setting a career high in assists with 41 and a career-best plus-30 rating.

If the right-shot defenseman can replicate that performance in his return to the Hurricanes while staying disciplined, $1.675 million will be a bargain.