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Jaccob Slavin and Adam Fox on the blue line together? It almost happened for the Canes

Imagine, for a moment, the Carolina Hurricanes with a top defensive pairing of Jaccob Slavin and Adam Fox.

Don Waddell could imagine it.

The Canes’ president and general manager traded for Fox’s rights in 2018, calling him the “one of the premier defensemen not in the National Hockey League” and saying he was convinced the Canes would sign Fox to an entry-level contract.

Fox, the 2021 Norris Trophy winner with the New York Rangers, was a part of the mega-trade between the Canes and Calgary Flames during the 2018 NHL Draft. Carolina sent Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin to Calgary for Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland and Fox, then a collegiate All-America defender at Harvard.

The Canes later traded Fox to the Rangers, but only after a contentious negotiating period during which Fox said he was considering returning to Harvard for his senior season.

New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) skates with the puck against San Jose Sharks left wing Rudolfs Balcers (92) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) skates with the puck against San Jose Sharks left wing Rudolfs Balcers (92) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In the two-plus years since that deal, Fox has developed into one of the NHL’s best — as Waddell predicted — a playmaking D-man with quickness and creative offensive skills.

Fox, 23, leads the Rangers this season with 42 points in 40 games entering Friday’s game against the Canes at PNC Arena. He had two goals and an assist Wednesday as the Rangers rallied from a first-period deficit for a 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs that moved New York (26-10-4) into first place in the Metropolitan Division, ahead of the Hurricanes (26-8-2).

“We just have that mentality that we’re never out of a game,” Fox said after the game.

Canes defenseman Brendan Smith was a Rangers teammate in Fox’s first two seasons in the league and said he was quickly impressed by the right-shot defenseman he calls “Foxy.”

“He came in and he wanted to learn,” Smith said Thursday. “It wasn’t like he came in with a chip on his shoulder, or came in cocky or any of those aspects. He asked and guys helped him out, and he just flourished.

“I think he had a great mindset coming in and obviously you see what he’s done. It’s a testament to how hard he works. For me it’s exciting to watch him continue to progress, and I think the sky’s the limit when you see the kind of talent he brings.”

Adam Fox, a defenseman at Harvard, was traded in June 2018 to the Carolina Hurricanes and attended the team’s prospect development camp at PNC Arena.
Adam Fox, a defenseman at Harvard, was traded in June 2018 to the Carolina Hurricanes and attended the team’s prospect development camp at PNC Arena.

Fox well-traveled already

Calgary drafted Fox in the third round in 2016. Unable to sign him, the Flames included him in the Carolina deal, even though the prevailing feeling was Fox would not sign with the Hurricanes, either, that his plan was to stay at Harvard long enough to either force a trade to a team of his choosing — the Rangers, for example — or play out his college eligibility and become a free agent.

Fox, then 20, attended Carolina’s prospects development camp soon after the 2018 trade and was quizzed by media members about his intentions.

“I’ve never said anything about my plans,” Fox said in an interview with The N&O during the camp. “Definitely next year I’m going back to school and will take it day by day. For me, it’s not that I’ve thought all the way down the road and had this whole thing planned out, of what I want to do.”

That’s what Fox said — then.

If he did have a plan, it worked. He returned to Harvard for his junior season in 2018-19, as he told the Flames and later the Canes he would. When the Canes tried to sign him in 2019, he then said he was considering a return to Harvard for a senior season.

When Fox kept balking at signing, Canes owner Tom Dundon said in April 2019 that Carolina would look to deal him. Later that month, the Canes did, obtaining two second-round draft picks from the Rangers in exchange for the rights to Fox, a Jericho, N.Y., native who quickly signed his entry-level pact with New York.

New York Rangers’ Adam Fox (23) skates past Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek (34) after scoring a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Rangers’ Adam Fox (23) skates past Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek (34) after scoring a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Early returns

A solid rookie season for Fox in the 2019-20 season ended with the Rangers being swept in three games by the Hurricanes in the opening round of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs in Toronto. He then won the Norris in the condensed 2021 season with 47 points in 55 games, beating out Cale Makar of Colorado in the voting.

Fox was rewarded by the Rangers with a seven-year contract extension worth $66.5 million last November, Rangers general manager Chris Drury referring to him as a “cornerstone for our organization.”

In an interesting twist, the Canes signed former Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo as a free agent this season and have often paired him with Slavin. DeAngelo has 28 points in 29 games for Carolina, missing some games because of COVID-19.

Fox’s quick ascent in the NHL has come as no surprise to Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour.

“We only had him here at that one development camp and you could tell,” Brind’Amour said Thursday. “I remember him leaving and saying, ‘This guy is going to be a playmaker. He’s going to make stuff happen.’ I don’t think anyone envisioned to this level. He’s one of the elite players now.”

Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh

TV/Radio: Bally Sports South, WCMC-99.9FM