Adam Fox has joined the company of a few very good men.
For in being named as winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman on Tuesday, the 23-year-old joins Bobby Orr as only the second player in the 67-year history of the award to win it in his second season, and Hall of Famers Doug Harvey, Harry Howell and Brian Leetch as the only Rangers to claim it.
He is also the first Rangers’ major award winner since Henrik Lundqvist took home the Vezina for 2011-12.
Fox, who quite famously grew up in Jericho as a devoted Rangers fan in a family of them, captured the Norris by finishing ahead of Colorado runner-up Cale Makar and Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman in the balloting done by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association off his splendid season in which he was named team MVP and won the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award.
The Blueshirts’ righty, who has been paired with Ryan Lindgren through his (and their) first two seasons on what became the club’s shutdown tandem midway through their respective rookie years, led NHL defensemen with 42 assists while finishing second in points with 47, one behind Edmonton’s Tyson Barrie. His 23 points (2-21) on the power play tied for second with Barrie, one behind Hedman (1-23).
Fox, who added penalty killing to his repertoire this season, averaged 24:42 of ice time per game, 11th in the NHL and most by a Ranger since Ryan McDonagh’s 24:49 in 2013-14. He was on for 43 goals for and 31 against at five-on-five for a GF percentage of 58.11. He recorded a goals-against-per-60 minutes of 1.95.
Numbers, though, may not connote how seamlessly Fox has evolved into an upper-echelon two-way player who sees and thinks the game at an elite level. He is not especially big at all, listed at 5-foot-11, 181 pounds, but he is a master at turning plays the other way and initiating transition plays off reads and stick positioning.
Toward the end of the season, Fox credited head coach David Quinn and his staff for his rapid success. Quinn and the assistants other than Benoit Allaire were of course dismissed when the season ended. Gerard Gallant will be behind the bench next season.
“For me, it just started with earning trust from the coaching staff,” said Fox, who received the award from Leetch during the virtual ceremony. “From the start of my rookie year to the end, I think I gained a little more trust and was able to prove myself as a defender and not just an offensive guy.
“From Day 1, the coaching staff tried to harp on me to be a complete player. They helped me elevate and learn along the way.”
The Blueshirts acquired Fox’s rights from Carolina in exchange for a second- and third-rounder on April 30, 2019, after it became apparent that the defenseman would not sign with the Hurricanes and instead was on a path that would have made him an unrestricted free agent in August 2020.
At that time, he would have been clear to sign with the Blueshirts without compensation going to Carolina. Hence, the trade that was pulled off by former general manager Jeff Gorton.
Originally drafted in the third round and 66th overall by the Flames out of the U.S. Development Program in 2016 ahead of his freshman season at Harvard, Fox’s rights were first dealt to Carolina as part of the June 2018 deal featuring Dougie Hamilton, Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm and Micheal Ferland.
Fox, who will be a leading contender for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team if the NHL indeed goes to the 2022 Games in Beijing, is entering the final year of his entry-level contract under which he is receiving $925,000 per with a bonus package that maxes out at $850,000 a year. He is eligible for an extension this summer that would kick in starting with 2022-23.
The parties — one, the other or both — might want to wait until this contract expires before getting down to work on the defenseman’s next contract, but it might serve GM Chris Drury’s purposes to lock in a number on a long-term basis sooner rather than later for roster-planning purposes.
Fox is only four years away from unrestricted free agency, so it would seem far more likely that the Rangers would want to secure his talents on an eight-year max term. For an initial comparable, the Senators gave Thomas Chabot an eight-year extension at $8 million per while he still had a year remaining under entry level.
That is likely Fox’ baseline, though resolution of Makar’s negotiations this summer — the UMass product’s entry level deal has expired — will all but certainly have an impact on talks between the Rangers and their Norris Trophy winner the parties choose to engage.
Of course, though, Makar doesn’t have a Norris.
