When the New York Rangers training camp opened on Thursday, Tony DeAngelo was missing. The restricted free agent is officially a holdout, unsigned and unable to take part in any team activities. Holdouts can be ugly and have long term ramifications in the relationship between the player and the team. Here are some of the issues.
The team’s perspective
For the Rangers it is relatively simple. They own DeAngelo’s rights and he has no leverage, They qualified him with an offer of the NHL minimum of $874,125. The word is that they want him to sign for the same amount that his fellow RFA, Brendan Lemiuex, signed for on Wednesday.