Why Adam Fox's blazing start has him climbing Rangers' all-time ranks and being compared to Brian Leetch
Rangers defenseman Adam Fox, left, and former Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett; Al Bello
A week ago, on the heels of a three-game point streak, Adam Fox was scoring points at a rate that had him potentially breaking Brian Leetch’s single-season franchise record (102 points) for a defenseman, set in 1991-92. Two straight scoreless games, before a single assist in Friday’s 5-1 win over the hapless Vancouver Canucks, backed him off that pace.
At the quarter-pole point of the season, through 21 games, Fox’s 23 points (2 goals, 21 assists) project to 92 which would be the second-most by a Rangers defenseman in a season. And the way he has started this year, following an injury-marred 2025-26, leaves no doubt that the 28-year-old Jericho native, a Norris Trophy winner in 2021, is right up there with Leetch in the conversation about all-time great Rangers defensemen.
Just ask Blueshirts great Adam Graves, who played with Leetch, and won the Stanley Cup with him in 1994.
“You're speaking to the Brian Leetch fan club,” Graves said when asked by Newsday how he thought Fox stacked up to Leetch. “I remember sitting with Brian watching Adam Fox when he was just a young kid coming into (his first) training camp … and just seeing the intellect and the intelligence with which he played. And then winning a Norris – he plays such a smart game. You know, when you talk about hockey smarts, you have no better example of that than Adam Fox. And he does it consistently.
“Watching a guy like Leetchie, a guy like Mess (Mark Messier), all these great players that I was lucky enough to play with, what made them great was not only… their hockey sense and their ability to do special things, but for me, to do it night in and night out, shift in and shift out. And do it in such a humble way. And I think that that's exactly the way Adam Fox carries himself.”
Leetch played parts of 17 seasons with the Rangers, joining the club as a 19-year-old after playing for the U.S. team in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, before being traded to Toronto at the deadline in 2004. After the NHL lockout wiped out the 2004-05 season, Leetch played one more season, in 2005-06 for Boston. He scored 5 goals and 32 points in 61 games at age 38, and retired, finishing his career with 1,205 games played, 247 goals, 781 assists and 1,028 points. As a Ranger, he played 1,129 games, amassing 240 goals, 741 assists, and 981 points.
Fox, who is in his eighth season, has 74 goals, 371 assists, 445 points in 507 games. If he stays healthy and plays another eight years, and simply doubles the totals he has currently, he would end up with over 1,000 games played, around 150 goals, and around 900 points. If all those numbers are with the Rangers, he would be third on the franchise’ all-time scoring list, behind Rod Gilbert (1,021 points) and Leetch (though current teammate Mika Zibanejad will have something to say about that). Regardless, though, if he keeps going at this rate, Fox would finish in the top five.
Durzi nears return
Defenseman Sean Durzi, who has been out the past seven games with an undisclosed injury, skated with the team in a non-contact jersey toward the end of the road trip, meaning he should be returning to the lineup soon.
What does that mean for defenseman Scott Morrow, who was a healthy scratch the first 14 games, before stepping into the lineup when Durzi came out?
Morrow, who has one assist and is a plus-3 in seven games, made a great play to hustle back on a 3-on-2 break and knock the puck off the stick of Vancouver’s Conor Gallagher late in the second period Friday, starting the counterattack that led to Alexis Lafreniere’s goal. And the Rangers won five of the seven games in which he played. Coach Mike Sullivan, when asked last week if there was a way Morrow could stay in the lineup even after Durzi was healthy, said “of course there is.”
Still, how realistic would it be for Morrow to hold on to a spot in the lineup?
“That's not up to me,” Morrow said last week, when asked that question. “I mean, I feel like focusing on the long term or the big picture is not beneficial for me right now, and I just need to compartmentalize and try and help us win today.”
It’s unlikely Durzi, who had two goals, three assists and was a minus-1 in his 14 games, won’t just go back into the lineup as soon as he’s healthy. So, it would appear more likely that if Morrow, who is a righthanded-shooter, is going to keep playing for a while, he’d have to shift to the left side, to fill in for rookie Alberts Smits, who is currently out on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury.
Playing his off side is something he could do, Morrow said. He’s done it before.
“If necessary, yeah,” he said. “I did it most of my college career, so I could definitely do it if asked.”
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
