| Adam Fox | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Fox with theNew York Rangers in 2019 | |||
| Born | (1998-02-17)February 17, 1998 (age 27) Jericho, New York, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb) | ||
| Position | Defense | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| NHL team | New York Rangers | ||
| National team |  United States | ||
| NHL draft | 66th overall,2016 Calgary Flames | ||
| Playing career | 2019–present | ||
Adam Fox (born February 17, 1998) is an American professionalice hockeydefenseman andalternate captain for theNew York Rangers of theNational Hockey League (NHL).[1] Fox was selected by theCalgary Flames, 66th overall, in the2016 NHL Entry Draft. In 2021, Fox won theJames Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman, joiningBobby Orr as the only two players in NHL history to win the award before their third NHL season.
He played two seasons in theU.S. National Team Development Program, and finished with the record for the most assists in a single season (in 2015–16) and the most assists in a career (in 2014–16). He played collegiate ice hockey forHarvard University, leading allNCAA defensemen in the nation in assists and points in his freshman season, and leading all defensemen in the country in points per game and assists in his junior season. In June 2018, Calgary traded Fox's NHL rights to theCarolina Hurricanes, who traded them to the New York Rangers in April 2019. He left college a year early and made his NHL debut for the Rangers in 2019. In his rookie season, he tied for second among all NHL rookie defensemen in goals and was third in assists and points.
Fox was born inJericho, New York, to parents Bruce and Tammy Fox and is Jewish.[2][3] His father was a New York Rangersseason ticket holder.[4] He has an older brother, Andrew, who is an investment banker.[3][5] His nickname is "Foxy".[3] He attendedJericho High School, and thenPioneer High School inAnn Arbor, Michigan, where he played hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.[6][3][7]
Fox grew up playing for the Long Island Gulls of the Atlantic Youth Hockey League.[8][4]
He played two seasons (2014–16) in theU.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP) in Plymouth, Michigan.[8] During his final season in the program, he led all under-18 defensemen ingoals,assists, and points.[9] He finished his career with the record for the most assists in a single-season (59; in 2015–16), the most assists in a career (86; in 2014–2016), and the third-most points by a defenseman in USNTDP history.[9][8]
He was named the2016 IIHF World U18 Championships Best Defenseman, to the 2016 U18 World Hockey Championships Media All-Star Team, and won a bronze medal at the 2016 Championships.[10]
Leading up to the2016 NHL Entry Draft, Fox was ranked 50th for North American Skaters in the final ranking by theNHL Central Scouting Bureau.[11] He was drafted 66th overall by theCalgary Flames.[12]
Fox attendedHarvard University for three years, majoring in psychology.[3] He had an immediate impact after joiningHarvard Crimson men's ice hockey team for the2016–17 season.[8] He led allNCAA defensemen in the nation, and ranked 4th among NCAA freshmen skaters with 40 points, led all NCAA defensemen and all NCAA freshmen skaters in assists with 34, and led all ECAC skaters in both points and assists, as he played 35 games.[8][6] He was named 2017ECAC Rookie of the Year andIvy League Rookie of the Year after his freshman season.[8] In his freshman season, Fox helped Harvard win theBeanpot for the first time since 1993 by recording agoal and anassist to beatBoston University 6–3.[13] Fox also helped Harvard reach its first Frozen Four series since 1994 and win an Ivy title and ECAC Hockey Championship. In theFrozen Four semifinals againstUniversity of Minnesota Duluth, the Crimson lost 2–1.[14]
In his sophomore 2017–18 season, he had 28 points on six goals and 22 assists in 29 games.[8] He was fifth in the nation among defensemen, averaging .97 points per game.[6]
In his junior 2018–19 season, he had 48 points (9 goals, 39 assists) in 33 games for Harvard, and was the top scoring player and defenseman in the country with 1.45 points per game.[3][6] He led theNCAA in assists and was fourth in points, while also setting school single-season records for assists and points by a defenseman.[3] Fox broke the school record for points by a Harvard defenseman in one season, set byMark Fusco in 1983.[6] He was named a finalist for theHobey Baker Award as the top player in college hockey, won the 2019 Walter Brown Award, and was an Academic All-Ivy honoree.[3][6]
Fox was also named to theNCAA First All-American Team andECAC First All-Star Team in each of his three seasons (2017–19).[8] In 97 career games, he had 116 points (21 goals, 95 assists).[3] He became the fourth defenseman in Harvard history to reach 100 career points.[15] He left Harvard before his senior year to play in the NHL, when he was five classes short of graduating.[16][2][17]
On June 23, 2018, the Calgary Flames traded Fox'sNHL playing rights (along withDougie Hamilton andMicheal Ferland) to theCarolina Hurricanes in exchange forElias Lindholm andNoah Hanifin.[18][19] Flames general managerBrad Treliving had expressed doubts about the team's chances of signing him.[20]
The likelihood that Fox would sign with the Hurricanes diminished with the team becoming a playoff contender with a surplus of quality defensemen and a clause in the NHL'scollective bargaining agreement (CBA) allowing an NCAA player to return for his senior year and become a free agent upon graduation.[20] Hurricanes ownerThomas Dundon expressed his pessimism over the matter by stating, "We’ll try to trade him."[21] On April 30, 2019, Carolina traded Fox's NHL rights to theNew York Rangers in exchange for a second-round pick in the2019 NHL Entry Draft and what would become a second-round pick in the2020 NHL Entry Draft.[22][23] On May 2, Fox signed an entry-level contract with the Rangers, with a maximum entry-level salary ($925,000 plus bonuses).[17][24] He won the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award as the top Ranger rookie in training camp in 2019, and made the Rangers' Opening Night roster.[3][25]
He made his NHL debut in October 2019, at 21 years of age.[26][27] He finished the 2019–20 season with 42 points (8 goals, 34 assists) in 70 games.[28] He tied for second among all NHL rookie defensemen in goals, and third in points, assists, and PPP (13).[3] He ranked first among Rangers defensemen in Goals Above Replacement (14.9) and Wins Above Replacement (2.7).[29] He became the fifth rookie defenseman in franchise history to have at least 40 points in a season, joiningRon Greschner,Reijo Ruotsalainen,Brian Leetch, andMike McEwen.[3] Despite his rookie season success, Fox fell short of aCalder Memorial Trophy nomination.
During the 2020–21 season, on April 6, during a 8–4 win over thePittsburgh Penguins, Fox became the fourth defenseman in Rangers history to record an 11-game point streak.[30] His point streak ended on April 9 at 12 games.[31][32] He also became the first Rangers defenseman to assist on 11-straight power play goals.[33] On April 29, Fox was named the recipient of theSteven MacDonald Extra Effort Award. He was given the award for his outstanding defense and consistent play throughout the season. Fox was the first defenseman to win the award sinceBrian Leetch won in 1997.[34] On June 29, Fox won theJames Norris Memorial Trophy for the2020–21 NHL season.[35] Fox became only the second defenseman in NHL history to win the award before starting his third season. He is the youngest winner since thenMontreal Canadiens defensemanP. K. Subban won it at the age of 23 in 2013, and is the first Rangers player to receive the honor sinceBrian Leetch in 1997.[36][37] In a shortened 56-game schedule, Fox led all defensemen with 42 assists and was second in points with 47, behindTyson Barrie of theEdmonton Oilers. In 55 games, he registered five goals, posted a plus-19 rating, averaged 24:42 of ice time per game, and finished with 23 power play points.
On November 1, 2021, Fox signed a seven-year, $66.5 million contract extension with the Rangers.[38][39] In January 2022, Fox was chosen to his firstNHL All-Star Game, which was held atT-Mobile Arena inParadise, Nevada. After scoring two goals with an assist in a game against theToronto Maple Leafs on January 19, Fox became the first Rangers defenseman to reach the 40-point mark in 40 games or fewer sinceBrian Leetch in the2000–01 season.[40] On November 6, during a game against theCalgary Flames, Fox was heavily booed by Flames fans whenever he touched the puck. He scored a goal at the end of the first period and started mocking fans, but the goal was called back because of an offside, Flames fans throughout the game started chanting "Fox you suck!", which was caused by Fox not wanting to sign an entry-level contract with the Flames, his draft team.[41]
Fox was a Norris Trophy finalist for the second time for the2022–23 season.[42]
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing United States | ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| World Junior Championships | ||
 | 2017 Canada | |
 | 2018 United States | |
| World U18 Championships | ||
| 2016 United States | |
Fox has represented theUnited States men's national junior ice hockey team at both the2017 and2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
In 2017, Fox won agold medal with Team USA while recording four points in seven games. The following year, Fox was named analternate captain for Team USA at the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[43] He led Team USA to abronze medal while leading the team's defensemen in assists and points.[44]
Following the conclusion of his collegiate career, on April 19, 2019, Fox was selected to represent thesenior United States team at the2019 IIHF World Championship held inBratislava andKošice,Slovakia.[45]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2014–15 | U.S. National Development Team | USHL | 34 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | U.S. National Development Team | USHL | 25 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Harvard University | ECAC | 35 | 6 | 34 | 40 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Harvard University | ECAC | 29 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Harvard University | ECAC | 33 | 9 | 39 | 48 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 8 | 34 | 42 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2020–21 | New York Rangers | NHL | 55 | 5 | 42 | 47 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | New York Rangers | NHL | 78 | 11 | 63 | 74 | 26 | 20 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | New York Rangers | NHL | 82 | 12 | 60 | 72 | 34 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 16 | ||
| 2023–24 | New York Rangers | NHL | 72 | 17 | 56 | 73 | 36 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 8 | ||
| NHL totals | 357 | 53 | 255 | 308 | 142 | 46 | 5 | 34 | 39 | 28 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | United States | U17 |  | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2016 | United States | U18 |  | 7 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2017 | United States | WJC |  | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2018 | United States | WJC | | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2019 | United States | WC | 7th | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 27 | 2 | 18 | 20 | 2 | ||||
| Senior totals | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Award | Year | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| College | ||
| ECAC Rookie of the Year | 2017 | |
| ECAC All-Rookie Team | 2017 | |
| ECAC First All-Star Team | 2017,2018,2019 | |
| ECAC All-Tournament Team | 2017 | |
| NCAA First All-American Team | 2017, 2018, 2019 | |
| NHL | ||
| James Norris Memorial Trophy | 2021 | |
| NHL First All-Star Team | 2021,2023 | |
| All-Star Game | 2022,2023 | |
| NHL Second All-Star Team | 2024 | |
| International | ||
| World U18 Championship All-Star Team | 2016 | [44] |
| World U18 Championship Best Defenseman | 2016 | [44] |
| New York Rangers | ||
| Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award | 2021 | [46] |
...Fox is the first Rangers defenseman since Brian Leetch in 2000-01 to reach the 40-point mark in 40 games played or fewer...
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year 2016–17 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | ECAC Hockey Player of the Year 2018–19 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | James Norris Memorial Trophy winner 2021 | Succeeded by |