Rangers' Tony DeAngelo unfazed by move to Jacob Trouba's left side

It’s a little different watching a righthanded-shooting defenseman like Tony DeAngelo playing on the left side of a defense pair. But DeAngelo doesn’t let much faze him, and the 25-year-old insisted Wednesday that he will be alright playing on the left in 2021.

"I played it most of my time in junior, when I was with Sarnia (of the Ontario Hockey League),’’ DeAngelo said after the Rangers practiced Wednesday. "A little bit of adjustment just getting back to the angles and stuff, or, you know, receiving passes coming from the other side… you're on your backhand a little more. But it's all stuff that I don't find is going to be too hard for me.’’

Rangers coach David Quinn has moved DeAngelo to his off side for this truncated training camp in order to partner him on a potential first defense pair with right-handed shooting Jacob Trouba. While it’s hardly unusual to see two lefthanders playing together, two righthanders together isn’t something you see often in the NHL. But Quinn is trying to get what he considers his best four defensemen – Trouba, DeAngelo, Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren – into his top two pairs. And three of those four are righties.

DeAngelo was the one to move, Quinn said, because Fox, who is also a righthander, worked so well together with Lindgren last season that he didn’t want to break up their partnership.

"They seemed to feed off each other and read off each other well,’’ Quinn said of Fox and Lindgren. "So (moving DeAngelo) just made the most sense.’’

Trouba, who played mostly with left-handed Brady Skjei last season before Skjei was traded to Carolina at the deadline, acknowledged playing with another righthander will take some getting used to.

"It's a little bit different,’’ he said. "You’ve just got to figure out tendencies and reads, and that kind of stuff. That just comes with time. At the end of the day, you're playing the same system, you're still playing the game of hockey, and we're two good players. And we have confidence that we can make plays together and play well together.’’

DeAngelo had settled in on the third pair with veteran left-hander Marc Staal the last two seasons, before Staal was traded in the offseason to Detroit. DeAngelo said he was close to Staal on and off the ice, and would have liked to continue playing with him had he stayed with the Rangers. But he also understands that playing with Trouba, whom the Rangers envision as their potential No. 1 defenseman, will bring the opportunity to get more ice time, and the chance to play against other team’s top players.

The challenge for DeAngelo, who led the team’s defensemen in scoring last season with 15 goals, 38 assists, 53 points – all career-highs – will be to become a better defender than he has been. He’s looking forward to it, he said.

"Personally, I'm kind of tired of hearing about all these defensive woes of mine,’’ he said. "So my main goal this year is to be the best I can, defensively. I think the offense is going to take care of itself… and I think I'm going to keep up with the point production, and the puck movement, and the power play. And all that stuff's going to come.’’

He demonstrated how good a defender he intends to be this season when he took a stab at defending his beloved Philadelphia Eagles’ performance against the Washington Football Team Sunday night.

"I don't think the Eagles did anything wrong,’’ DeAngelo, a native of South Jersey, said. "As they went for it on that fourth down, they were down 17-14. And if they score on the fourth down -- a good throw makes it 21-17 (Eagles), and no Giants fans would be complaining.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.