Hockey fans lose their minds after Islanders bring in controversial defenseman Tony DeAngelo from Russia

New York Islanders fans are up in arms after the team announced Friday that they would be signing divisive American defenseman Tony DeAngelo to a contract through the end of the season.

After an injury to defenseman Noah Dobson, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello decided to start DeAngelo on a contract with a prorated league minimum salary of $775,000.

You will have to clear the waivers for the deal to come through.

DeAngelo had recently played with SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia. SKA terminated DeAngelo’s contract earlier this month, with the defender wanting to return home due to ‘family reasons’.

DeAngelo is a divisive figure in the hockey community and has been at the center of multiple scandals in the past, including making racist/sexist/homophobic comments, fighting with teammates, and abusing officials.

When the move was announced on social media, hockey fans almost universally condemned the signing.

The New York Islanders have signed controversial defenseman Tony DeAngelo

DeAngelo’s contract was purchased by Russian KHL team SKA Saint Petersburg this month

Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello watches a practice at the team’s training facility

“A deeply unserious organization,” one Islanders fan posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Another Isles fan said: “I often wonder why a merciful God punishes my sports fandom to no end.”

A fan of the rival New Jersey Devils posted: “Lou really didn’t see much happening in hockey today and decided to throw a Molotov cocktail through the NHL offices.”

Some more particularly calm fans tweeted: ‘Burn Ubs Arena to the ground’ or ‘I’m really sick. F*** this disgusting piece of s**t fuckery. He is scum. He is poison for the locker room. F*** you Lou.

Another tweeted: “Why the absolute f*** would you do that”?

“Good reminder not to judge a book by its cover,” posted journalist James Duffy. ‘Yes, Tony DeAngelo is a terrible defender who is incapable of playing at an NHL level in his own zone. But, he’s also a notoriously horrible teammate who basically ran out of multiple locker rooms. Two sides to all coins.

Hockey analytics analyst Rachel Doerrie tweeted: “If you had told me DeAngelo and Lou Lamoriello would be in the same organization, I wouldn’t have believed you.” This goes one of two ways: it straightens out and we don’t see senselessness or it doesn’t last more than a month.’

Roy Bellamy, a hockey podcaster and senior producer of ‘The Dan Le Batard Show’ simply called it a “terrible f—ing signature.”

Islanders and sports fans almost universally condemned the team’s signing

DeAngelo is viewed as an offensive defender. According to hockey analyst @jfreshhockeyDeAngelo is in the 76th percentile in even-strength offense and the zeroth percentile in even-strength defense.

As an amateur player, the New Jersey native was suspended on two separate occasions while in Canada’s Junior Ontario Hockey League for violating the league’s harassment and abuse/diversity policy by using racist, sexist language and/or homophobic, including once when he abused his own teammate. The league did not specify what language it used.

He was also suspended several times in the OHL due to abuse by officials.

Despite these issues, DeAngelo was drafted 19th overall in 2014 by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was traded to the Arizona Coyotes before playing a game for the organization.

In Arizona, DeAngelo was suspended for three games and fined more than $14,000 for physically assaulting a referee in January 2017.

Arizona traded him to the New York Rangers in June 2017, where he played without a serious incident for several seasons.

It all came to an end on January 30, 2021 when DeAngelo got into a fight with his own goalie, Alexandar Georgiev, in the tunnel after a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The next day, the Rangers waived him and assigned him to the taxi squad, with general manager Jeff Gorton saying that DeAngelo had played his last game for the Rangers. Over the summer, he was placed on unconditional waivers in order to buy out his contract.

DeAngelo in a January 30, 2021 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He would get into a physical fight with his own goalie after this game and would never play for the Rangers again.

DeAngelo is carted off the ice after throwing at Tampa Bay Lightning forward Corey Perry in May 2023. He was suspended two games for this incident. He was later purchased by the Flyers.

DeAngelo plays the record in his second stint with the Carolina Hurricanes in May 2024

As a free agent, he signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in July 2021, with fans initially pushing back against his inclusion in the team.

After one season with the Hurricanes, DeAngelo was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in July 2022. During that tenure in Philadelphia, he notably turned on Lightning forward Corey Perry and was suspended for two games.

Philadelphia bought out his contract that summer. DeAngelo became the first player in National Hockey League history to have his contract bought out twice by two separate teams.

He returned to Carolina on a one-year deal in July 2023. He played in 31 games that season and was not re-signed, reaching free agency. After not receiving a suitable offer from a team, he made the jump to Russia.

Off the ice, DeAngelo is an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump and has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of the Covid-19 pandemic in the past.

He was active on Twitter until he was banned after the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol building. He has since returned to the site, now known as X.

Earlier this season, DeAngelo was supposed to appear on the hockey podcast ‘What a Chaos!’ – Where he was ready to engage in a vitriolic argument with a hockey writer for the Atletico, Dom Luszczyszyn. After the social media reaction, Luszczyszyn and the podcast canceled the appearance.

In his current NHL career, DeAngelo has played in 371 games scoring 48 goals and 210 points while accumulating 329 penalty minutes.