Islanders Gameday News: Isles sign Tony DeAngelo, that’ll fix it!

With Dobson and Reilly still out, the Isles go for the offensive-minded villain-in-a-box.

Just in time to meet one of the former teams that turned on him, offensive-minded defenseman Tony DeAngelo has found a new NHL home with the New York Islanders for the rest of the season.

The former Ranger (and noted Georgiev-puncher-stick-assaulter), Flyer and Hurricane had been in the KHL until the Isles rescued him in the wake of Noah Dobson’s injury. The Isles have also been without Mike Reilly most of the season, leaving a void for a blueliner-in-name who’s put up 210 points in 371 NHL games.

He’s unloved by several fanbases — in part that’s for, um, “societal” views but it’s firmly fertilized by perceptions of his on-ice activity. Alas, Oliver Wahlstrom is no longer around for us to hear the “hey, what did you guys say to each other?” storyline after the then-Isles winger disposed of the then-Flyer.

However, because we know that Lou Lamoriello Only Signs Character, we can trust that this will be a perfect and smooth match.

DeAngelo was putting up points in Russia with SKA St. Petersburg until this month when the sides “mutually terminated” his contract so he could return to the States for family reasons. Whether those reasons have anything to do with “maybe it’s time to get the hell out of Putin’s authoritarian hellscape” or not, we can only irresponsibly speculate.

He has worn #77 at each of his former stops. Does he have enough veteran cache to be allowed to take that number (and soil the legacy of Pierre Turgeon) here, or will Lou Lamoriello require him to wear a much more “culture first” number? Time will tell!

First Islanders Goal picks for the Flyers game go here.

Do we need any other news than that?

Oh, here’s the Isles’ version of the “quarter century” team. It is heavily weighted to players who served long tenures, and those who appeared in the last decade, other than Kenny Jonsson.