Tony DeAngelo, Flyers Heading For Likely Divorce?
Tony DeAngelo was scratched by Flyers head coach John Tortorella for the final five games of the season. It’s safe to say DeAngelo isn’t exactly happy about it. The New Jersey native was traded to the Flyers this offseason in a move that was supposed to spark the Flyers powerplay. It turns out the negatives outweighed the positives and this marriage will likely be coming to an end shortly.
“My whole life, I’ve wanted to be a Flyer, and now I am, so I don’t take it for granted at all,” he told reporters during his end-of-season media availability. “It’s something that means a lot to me so I’m not gonna let any relationship stuff get in the way.
“He’s the coach of the team, so you’ve gotta respect that, and I respect what he does. Do I agree with it, what happened in the last five games? Absolutely not. I think it’s ridiculous that I didn’t play in the last five.”
Side note: DeAngelo isn’t the only one upset about the scratches. Torts was screwing with my fantasy team all year. DeAngelo was also scratched for four straight games in December too. Turns out it never mattered and Icing Daubert won again…
Of course, there is a reason why DeAngelo was scratched. Some of it’s on the Flyers for realizing that he needs to be a third pair guy strictly in charge of running power play. Some of it’s on DeAngelo for being awful defensively.
DeAngelo led all Philadelphia blue-liners with 42 points in 70 games. That’s the positive. The negative is his minus-15.1 defensive goals above replacement was the worst mark among all NHL skaters in 2022-23, according to Evolving Hockey. All gas no breaks! As the Flyers head into a rebuild, they will likely find a trade partner for Tony DeAngelo.
