Anthony DeAngelo Autographed Card

Anthony DeAngelo had a good "first full season" last year, posting 30 points in 61 games with 77 penalty minutes, a points total that had him lead the New York Rangers despite playing in 12 fewer games than his closest pursuer, Kevin Shattenkirk.

This year, he's doing even better from an offensive standpoint, with 7 goals and 20 points in 27 games (and just 17 penalty minutes), and his +1 rating is a nice surprise considering he came with a reputation: that of an aggressive player who needed to keep his anger in check (from his days in Juniors) and a defenseman who refused to play defence (from his AHL days with the Syracuse Crunch as a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect). He was also unable to "stick" with the Arizona Coyotes.

Yet, with Jacob Trouba and Brady Skjei playing like a top pair and the Adam Fox/Ryan Lindgren pair making the argument that they're the best defensemen on the team this year, some are arguing that GM Jeff Gorton should sell high on the talented RFA-to-be, with only UFA Torey Krug being a comparable type of player without a contract for next year, with Dougie Hamilton (20th top scorer in the NHL so far) alone on a similar list of perhaps-available high-producing d-men with a year left on his deal after this one.

Any contender or playoff bubble team looking for an extra spark in their top-four would do well to inquire about his availability, as now would be a good time for the Blueshirts to listen to proposals. I would see him as an upgrade to Justin Schultz and an insurance policy with the oft-injured Kris Letang on the Pittsburgh Penguins, for instance.

Here he is wearing the Sarnia Sting's white (home) uniform on card #82 from In The Game's 2012-13 Heroes And Prospects set:

He signed it in black sharpie during the 2015-16 season, when he played for the Crunch.