Tortorella pleased ex-Flyer DeAngelo getting another chance with Islanders

Tony DeAngelo

ELMONT, N.Y. – Former Flyer Tony DeAngelo is getting another shot at the NHL with the Islanders and Flyers coach John Tortorella offered his best wishes prior to Friday night’s game.
DeAngelo signed a free-agent contract with the Islanders on Friday for the NHL minimum, $775,000.
It’s a bit of a controversial move by the Islanders, who have been stuck in last place in the Metropolitan Division.
The contract is prorated for the remaining games of the season.
“I’m glad Tony is getting another chance,” Tortorella said. “There are a lot of good things about Tony DeAngelo. Just text him.”
That comment drew a few smiles from the media in attendance at UBS Arena.
According to ESPN, The 29-year-old defenseman started the season with SKA Saint Petersburg of Russia’s KHL, signing with the club in the offseason after not finding an NHL opportunity in free agency. He had 32 points and 33 penalty minutes in 34 games. SKA announced a mutual termination of his contract Jan. 14 for what the team said were family considerations in North America.
Previously, DeAngelo has played for Carolina, Arizona and the Rangers.
The Islanders needed a veteran defenseman to bolster their roster after top offensive defenseman Noah Dobson went down to a lower-body injury. Dobson, who has 24 points in 46 games, is considered week-to-week.
Tortorella was the Flyers coach when DeAngelo played here. In 70 games, he posted 11 goals/42 points but was a glaring minus-27. His Flyer contract was for two years but the Flyers put him on unconditional waivers after one in July, 2023.

>Loss is just a memory

Even though the Flyers entered Friday night’s game against the Islanders less than 24 hours after a 6-1 loss to the Rangers, Tortorella sounded confident his team could put that one in the rearview mirror. Quickly.
His team had been coming off a six-game (5-0-1) point streak, so he was hoping his team could get back to that form.
“There are so many games, this is our third in four nights,” Tortorella said before the game at UBS Arena. “We moved by the last game, the result and we get ready to play this game.”
Any discussion about the hit that the Islanders’ Maxim Tsyplakov placed on the Flyers’ Ryan Poehling in a game on Jan. 16 (which put Poehling on injured reserve) will have to wait until the next Flyers-Islanders game on Jan. 30 because Tsyplakov was serving the last game of a three-game suspension on Friday night.

>Devils back-to-back

In their last confrontation with the Devils, the Flyers played one of their best games of the season. Philadelphia prevailed, 3-1, in the game at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. by blocking a season-high 33 shots and allowing goaltender Samuel Ersson to face only 14 shots, which turned out to be a season-low.
Now the Flyers have to face their turnpike cousins twice (Monday and Wednesday) in a very short timeframe. With a total of three meetings in less than two weeks, there probably shouldn’t be a need to review too much videotape in preparation for this important pair of games.

>Laughton remains out

Scott Laughton was scheduled to miss a third straight game on Friday night due to a personal matter involving his family. There is no timeline yet for his return.

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About Wayne Fish 2701 Articles
Wayne Fish has been covering the Flyers since 1976, a stint which includes 18 Stanley Cup Finals, four Winter Olympics and numerous other international events.