Wendell Cruz-Imagn ImagesAdam Fox’s future has been a topic of conversation since he commented on Chris Drury’s letter outlining the New York Rangers’ plan to “retool” the roster.
Upon returning from a 13-game stint on long-term injured reserve on Feb. 26, Fox gave a non-committal answer when asked if he wants to stick around with the Rangers through a retool.
“I'm just trying to focus on this year right now and play each game,” Fox said. “That's really all I could do right now. That’s a conversation for when we’re done playing.”
A few days later, when he had an opportunity to clarify his previous comments, Fox decided to go down a similar path, answering the question vaguely while giving no reassurances about where his head is at past the 2025-26 campaign.
“Kind of the same,” Fox said of whether he had anything to add to his previous comments about his future. “We’re just trying to focus on games, myself included. Like you said, there's a lot going on, the deadline and everything. But I think all anyone can do right now is just take it day by day and try to bring a good effort, trying to bring a good attitude and obviously, go from there.”
Despite being eliminated from playoff contention, the Rangers have been playing at a high level through this most recent stretch, winning five of their last six games.
The 27-year-old defenseman spoke about the Blueshirts’ sudden resurgence and feels it’s a positive step for the organization to cultivate a winning foundation and build momentum into the future.
“There's no easy games, but obviously teams that have that sense of desperation and really something to play for, I think, shows that we haven't really gave up on the year and packed it in,” Fox said.
“Like we said, we're still trying to build on something and gain momentum and establish something here that we can take positively into the summer and build on that. It's great to see. I think the group's done a great job since the break of just being focused, trying to come out and compete and just play hard and try and build on that.”
Fox’s seven-year, $66.5 million contract doesn't expire until 2029 and he hasn’t made any direct comments to lead to the conclusion that he wouldn’t want to stick around for the Rangers’ retool.
However, According to Vince Mercogliano of The Athletic, multiple meetings have taken place between Fox and Drury. Mercogliano reported early in March that Fox wants to see how Drury handles the coming months and assess the state of the roster this summer before making a full-throated commitment to stick it out with the Blueshirts.
On top of the Rangers’ newfound success, Fox is picking up where he left off at the beginning of the season before he landed on LTIR twice and missed a total of 27 games.
Fox is currently riding a 7-game point streak, recording three goals, 10 assists, and 13 points over these last seven games.
“I think he's getting better with every game he plays,” Sullivan said of Fox. “Foxy missed a fair amount of time. He had back-to-back injuries, and he missed the first half of the first half of the season pretty much. It's not an easy thing to, you know, to get back into the timing and the conditioning and everything that goes into a player being at his best. He's obviously getting better with every game that he plays.
“I think it reflects in our team's ability to have success. He's a hard guy for us to replace because he's such a unique talent back there, and what he brings to our group. He's different in a lot of ways, from a lot of the other defensemen that we have. His injuries were a difficult one for us to endure, and you see the impact that he has on our team when he's in the lineup and he's healthy and he's playing the game that he's capable of. I think that's what we're seeing right now.”
In 51 games this season, Fox has recorded eight goals, 42 assists, and 50 points, while averaging 23:33 minutes.