Wheels reportedly already in motion that could lead to Tony DeAngelo leaving the NHL

With defenceman Tony DeAngelo still sitting at home waiting for the New York Rangers to trade him to a new team, questions are starting to get raised over whether any NHL team is willing to take him on and deal with his baggage. DeAngelo's issues have been well-documented, and boiled over after it came to blows with teammate Alex Georgiev around three weeks ago. DeAngelo was placed on waivers, which he cleared, and both he and the Rangers stated DeAngelo will sit at home until a trade partner can be found.

So, what if another NHL team doesn't want him in their dressing room? According to a report by Sport-express.ru, his agent has already had conversations with teams in the KHL just in case a trade partner in the NHL can't be found. That said, the report states with a fairly new salary cap in place for KHL teams, DeAngelo will have to forget about making anywhere near the $4.8 million he's contracted to make in North America for this season and next.

"None of the teams will make Tony the highest-paid player in the league," states the report.

None of this should come as a surprise. The KHL has long been a dumping ground for players and others that fall from grace in the NHL. Slava Voynov, who was sentenced to jail for 90 days for domestic violence, has been trying to get back to North America for the last couple of years but cannot find a team to take him. Brendan Leipsic, who was bought out by the Washington Capitals after messages from a private Instagram group were made public, is a member of SKA Moscow this season. Bill Peters, former Calgary Flames coach who was pushed out after racist comments that he had made to Akim Aliu years earlier came to light, is the current head coach of Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. There are several other examples. Long story short, the KHL has very little issue with whatever skeletons may be in the closet of players and staff. Whether that is the right approach is purely a matter of opinion.

Regardless of DeAngelo's off-ice issues, one of the major problems he had this season before being unceremoniously booted from the Rangers was his on-ice play. He was benched for game two and three of the season after taking a terrible unsportsmanlike penalty in the season opener. Despite his obvious offensive talent, he was not very good on his return, playing in five more games and registering just one assist in total and coming in at a minus-6. Perhaps a change of scenery would produce better results. Maybe DeAngelo is too far into his own head to be the player that recorded 15 goals and 53 points in 2019-20. Eventually, we'll find out unless, of course, his only remaining option is to play in Russia

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