Rangers Adam Fox Reminding Many of Brian Leetch

Former New York Rangers great Brian Leetch was one of the greatest defensemen in NHL history.

He is eighth all-time in points (1,028) and is one of seven to accumulate more than 1,000 points in his career (247 goals and 781 assists). Leetch, a Hockey Hall of Famer, is also one of only six blueliners in NHL history to record 100 points in a season as he had a career-best 102 points in his Norris Trophy-winning 1991-92 season.

There is another Ranger blueliner who is currently making his mark on both the club and the league and that is Adam Fox. Fox, 25, in the middle of his fifth NHL season, has shown each year why he is one of the best defensemen in the league, just like Leetch did when he played.

For starters, he produces on a consistent level. As of this writing (Sunday, February 11), he has 274 points (44 goals and 230 assists) in 327 career games in the regular season and has another 31 points in 30 Stanley Cup playoff games.

Year in and year out, one can expect Fox to record anywhere between 40 and 70 points, depending on the number of games he plays in a season. Just look at his point totals since joining the NHL in the 2019-20 season:

• 2019-20: Eight goals and 34 assists for 42 points in 70 games
• 2020-21: Five goals and 42 assists for 47 points in 55 games
• 2021-22: 11 goals and 63 assists for 74 points in 78 games
• 2022-23: 12 goals and 60 assists for 72 points in 80 games

As expected, Fox has been highly productive this season. He currently has 39 points in 42 games and with a lot of games left to play, those numbers will continue to climb.

He also joined an exclusive franchise list when he recorded his 30th assist of the season in a 4-3 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks back on February 9th. With that assist, he became the sixth player, second defenseman, in Rangers history to record 30 assists in each of his first five seasons with the Blueshirts, joining Mark Messier (six), Phil Goyette (six), Artemi Panarin (five), Reijo Ruotsalainen (five), and Phil Esposito (five).

Speaking of production, Fox has been one of the league’s most prolific defensemen since the 2019-20 season. He is currently fifth among NHL defensemen in points (274) and tied for second in assists (230).

Leetch was also an extremely productive defenseman for the Blueshirts. Just look at the amazing numbers he put up below when he was playing on a high-caliber Ranger hockey clubs:

• 1988-89: 71 points in 68 games. Won the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year.
• 1989-90: 48 points in 68 games.
• 1990-91: 88 points in 80 games.
• 1991-92: 102 points in 80 games. Won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman.
• 1992-93: 36 points in 36 games.
• 1993-94: 79 points in 84 games.
• 1994-95: 41 points in 48 games.
• 1995-96: 85 points in 82 games.
• 1996-97: 78 points in 82 games. Won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman.

After the 1996-97 season, Leetch would go on to record another four seasons where he had at least 50 points. With that said, he would not play in the playoffs after that season either as the Ranger teams he played on after that year were terrible.

Leetch was also a great performer in the postseason. He finished his career with 97 points in 95 playoff games and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the league’s most valuable player in the postseason in 1994 when the Rangers won their first Cup in 54 years.

Another way in which Fox and Leetch are similar is the way they quarterback the power play. When Leetch manned the Rangers point with the man advantage, the puck found its way into the net a lot and whenever Leetch had the puck, things seemed to happen.

It has been the same way for Fox. He currently has 118 points with the man advantage and with players like Mika Zibanejad, Panarin, Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexis Lafreniere on the roster, that number will continue to reach new heights. 

Like Leetch, Fox is also an award winner. Fox won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman during the 2020-21 season, the first Ranger to win the award since Leetch won it in 1997 and he was also one of two defensemen to win the Norris in his second NHL season; the other is Bobby Orr.

Fox is also a very intelligent defenseman. He makes smart moves with the puck, he knows when to join the offense and when to stay back, and he is also very good at breaking up plays using his excellent vision.

Leetch was the same way. He was one of the best in terms of end-to-end rushes, but he was also very responsible with his main job, which was doing everything he could to prevent the opposition from scoring.

It is still very early in Fox’s career to determine whether or not he will end up in the Hockey Hall of Fame like Leetch did. With that said, he is certainly on track to be one of the franchise’s greatest defensemen to ever lace them up.