2026 Rangers Report Card: Adam Fox

This article is part of an ongoing series of Rangers Report Cards, grading the performance of each member of the 2025-26 New York Rangers. To view more report cards in this series, go here.

To read the Season Preview for Adam Fox, go here.

I'm going to start this Report Card out the same way I started the Season Preview for Adam Fox, because the opening sentence still applies:

Adam Fox is an elite NHL defenseman.

There was nothing that happened this season to dissuade informed observers of the sport of hockey from this funamental truth, and indeed plenty to add to it.

The closest you can come to a knock on Fox this season is his having been left off the Team USA roster for the 2026 Milan Olympics. That team won the Gold Medal, and flags fly forever. There's nothing that can take that accomplishment away from them. But that's also not to suggest that because it worked out that there were no mistakes made in roster construction, any more than it is to suggest that someone who wins the lottery venerates compulsively buying lottery tickets as an effective get-rich strategy. After all, are you really going to argue that roster couldn't have improved on the likes of J.T. Miller (even though Miller did play much better in Milan than he did in New York, but that's an issue for another Report Card, and I digress), or couldn't have benefited from the goal-scoring prowess of Jason Robertson or Cole Caufield?

The only other knock on Fox's season was, again, injury. It was an injury that landed him on LTIR in early January, and would almost certainly have kept him out of the Olympics anyway. But, aside from that, Fox was exactly what you expect and what from your elite defenseman.

Expectations

I led the section on expectations for Fox this season by pointing not to Fox himself, but to his likely defensive partner, the recently-signed Vladislav Gavrikov:

For the first time in several seasons, Fox's defensive partner will be neither a perpetual defensive liability nor a complete offensive blackhole. This should be freeing for Fox to know he doesn't need to worry if his other half has things covered. Also, for the people who are concerned about size, Gavrikov is 6-3 and weighs in at 220 pounds. Again, Fox is effective despite being only 5-11 and 180 pounds. But, even while the similarly diminutive Lindgren played bigger than his size, Gavrikov's heft should nonetheless help, as he can handle the lion's share of the dirty work.

For too long prior to this year, Fox had been dragging around an anchor on the ice with him in Ryan Lindgren. Lindgren had some very good years as a New York Ranger, but those years were behind him, his physical play style having taken a toll on his body. Gavrikov would be the most competent partner he'd had in years.

Fox was also likely to benefit from the new coaching staff. Peter Laviolette's defensive system was a tire fire. They surrendered an insane amount of chances, particularly on the rush, and never seemed set to defend. Sullivan had a reputation for getting the most out of his defensemen.

The combination of a new system and a new defensive partner portended well for Fox as we rolled into the 2025-26 season.

Performance

55 GP | 9 G | 44 A | 53 P | +5 | 91 SOG | 20 PIM

Before we get any further into it, let's pop the hood and look at the underlying numbers:

I don't know what you want me say here. Fox only played 55 games, but was roughly a point-per-game player in that time. Another frequently grip about him last season was the fall off in his goalscoring. In 2024-25, he potted 10 goals in 74 games. This year, he notched nine in only 55 games, which is a 13.5 goal pace over a full 82-game season.

But his offense has never really been in serious question. Look at the Advanced Hockey Stats chart above. Fox's offense was elite two years ago, was elite again last year, and was elite this season, as well.

What stands out in the chart above is the dip, and then subsequent improvement last season, in his defensive metrics. His defense is another area that critics take shots at, but this is no less off-base than the criticisms of his offensive powers. Fox is really valuable as a defender in two different ways: His ability to possess and move the puck means that the other team doesn't have it. And, if you're familiar with the game of hockey, it's famously hard to score when you don't have the puck. But he's also just a solid, effective defender. No, he doesn't send players flying through the boards like Niklas Kronwall did. That's not his style. But that doesn't mean he's not very good at what he does.

I'll again quote Chip with regard to the complains about Fox and his style of play:

Statement 1: “I’m not a huge fan of the way Adam Fox plays. I prefer players who are faster and more physical on D”

Statement 2: “Adam Fox is not an elite defenseman”

Statement 1 is an opinion that anyone is welcome to have. There’s really no right or wrong to it. No statistical evidence that one can point to and say “no, you have to like cerebral players.” If playing at high speed and throwing the body is your jam then it is understandable why Adam Fox may not be your favorite player.

Statement 2 is something different. There are actual evidentiary markers to point to and say, “nope, you’re wrong” and if you choose to still hold to the belief that Fox isn’t elite in the face of contradictory evidence, then yeah, you deserve mocking and derision as much as a Flat Earther does.

Among defensive pairs with at least 800 minutes TOI together at 5v5, Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov had a 58.49 xGF% according to Natural Stat Trick, second only to Tampa Bay's pairing of Darren Raddysh (on an absolute heater of a season) and J.J. Moser at 59.48. The pair was first in the league in Scoring Chances For Percentage at 59.47, first in High Danger Scoring Chances For Percentage at 64.10, and sixth in Corsi For Percentage at 55.18.

Again: Elite.

Grades

Author's Grade: A

Banter Consensus: A

Final Evaluation

That we are now seven seasons into having Adam Fox on Broadway and we still have some people who seem absolutely determined not to enjoy what he is and what the Rangers have is tragic and sad.

The biggest concern about Fox going forward has really nothing to do with his on-ice performance. It has to do with what happened before, at, and most particularly after the Milan Olympics. Many viewed Mike Sullivan's quip that "[t]here are whiskey drinkers and milk drinkers, and we've got a lot of whiskey drinkers on this team," as a shot at Fox. I really don't think that's how Sullivan meant it, meaning that I really don't think Sullivan had Fox specifically in mind when he said that. But, as the old saw goes in my personal professional field of marketing, "it's not what you say, it's what people hear." And it appeared that Fox heard that as at least a veiled, if not still unintentional, shot at him.

This led to speculation that Fox would want out of New York sooner rather than later. Fox somewhat tamped down that speculation, but there was reporting that he does want to know from Chris Drury and Rangers leadership what the plan and strategy are to get this team back into contention sooner rather than later. That's understandable. Fox is about to enter his age 28 season, and undoubtedly would like to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup before his hangs up his skates.

Given the Rangers current situation, you can't entirely rule out a trade—and I mean that from both perspectives. If you're Fox and you find what Drury, Sullivan, and company tell you about where they want to go and how they want to get there uninspired, you many want you politely ask out. Similarly, if you're the Rangers, Fox is one of the pieces you have who would fetch an absolutely haul—again, because NHL GMs aside from Bill Guerin know exactly what he is as a player—and the Rangers would be foolish not to consider it if they got that kind of offer.

All these questions will be answered in time. But for right now, the Rangers have an elite defenseman in Adam Fox. Enjoy it.