Adam Fox makes some serious money with the New York Rangers, averaging $9.5 million annually heading into the third of a seven-year deal. But according to one breakdown of contracts in the NHL, that’s a bargain for the massive value the Rangers defenseman brings.
In fact, Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic ranks Fox’s contract as the fourth best in the NHL right now. When projecting the next five seasons of Fox’s deal, Luszczyszyn sees its actual value being $15 million per season on average, using a model he created for this project.
“To get all that for only $9.5 million is an obvious steal,” Luszczyszyn wrote. “As the [salary] cap rises over the next five years, Fox’s deal should only become more valuable. Year-in and year-out, he’s proven to be one of the League’s very best two-way defensemen, and that’s worth way more than his current deal.”
The 26-year-old has 308 points (53 goals, 255 assists) in 357 NHL games and won the Norris Trophy as the best NHL defenseman in 2020-21. He’s finished top-five in Norris voting each of the past four years.
Fox averaged a point per game in 2023-24, with 73 points in 72 games, that included an NHL career-high 17 goals despite missing 10 games due to a knee injury.
“Fox’s 2023-24 campaign really felt like it flew under the radar, mostly as a result of several other defensemen who managed to soar higher,” Luszczyszyn stated. “Make no mistake though, Fox was still at the very top of his game.”
The special offensive numbers and solid defensive play on the Rangers top pairing is what makes Fox so elite.
Rangers deal with Adam Fox one of best contracts in NHL, per report
Credit for this contract belongs to forward-thinking general manager Chris Drury. Several months after being hired as GM in 2021, Drury got this extension done even though Fox was still only in the final season of his entry-level contract.
The deal was a massive raise for Fox at the time, but Drury was able to buy out the first years of unrestricted free agency down the line and avoid any potentially difficult contract negotiations when Fox would still have been a restricted free agent.
And as The Athletic reports, that contract is already shaping up to be a great one for the Blueshirts.
Per that report, the only contracts that are “better” belong to Florida Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling, New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes and Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen.
In order behind Fox, at No. 4 on the list, are Josh Morrissey (Winnipeg Jets D), Matthew Tkachuk (Panthers F), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche C), Zach Hyman (Edmonton Oilers F), Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks D) and Matt Boldy (Minnesota Wild F).
