After more than a month as a free agent in the NHL, defenseman Tony DeAngelo may be heading overseas. After spending the 2023-24 season with the Carolina Hurricanes, DeAngelo is reportedly signing a deal with SKA St. Petersburg.
First reported by Hockey News Hub on Twitter, the word is DeAngelo will join St. Petersburg for at least the upcoming season. Nothing is official yet, but this would be a huge signing for the KHL powerhouse.
St. Petersburg isn’t far removed from bringing aboard forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, who recently had his contract mutually terminated with the Hurricanes.
Hockey News Hub is curious if St. Petersburg could even afford another player like DeAngelo, especially after the Kuznetsov signing. KHL teams must be salary cap compliant at all times, but it’s possible to restructure contracts or cut players.
DeAngelo only appeared in 31 games during the 2023-24 season, with three goals and eight assists for 11 total points. That’s a bit of a step in the wrong direction for the usually solid puck-moving defender.
Despite some off-ice contraries over the years, DeAngelo always found ways to produce offensively. In 371 career games, he has 48 goals and 162 assists for 210 total points.
DeAngelo’s career-high in points came in the shortened 2019-20 with the New York Rangers when he put up 53 points (15G-38A) in 68 games. It was his first of two 50-point seasons over his eight years in the NHL.
The Tampa Bay Lightning drafted DeAngelo 19th overall in 2014, but he never played a game for the Bolts. DeAngelo started his NHL career with the Arizona Coyotes in 2016-17.
DeAngelo also suited up for the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2022-23 season.
