New York Rangers sign Norris winner Adam Fox to 7-year contract extension

Adam Fox will be sticking around with the New York Rangers for the foreseeable future.

The team announced on Monday that the 2021 Norris Trophy winner had agreed to a seven-year contract extension. According to Vince Mercogliano of USA Today Sports, Fox’s cap hit will be $9,500,000 annually.

A native of Jericho, New York, Fox was originally selected in the third round of the 2016 draft by the Calgary Flames. In 2018, he was moved to the Carolina Hurricanes along with Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland for Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm.

After concluding his junior season with Harvard, rumours surfaced that he wasn’t interested in inking an entry-level deal with the Hurricanes. Carolina ultimately wound up trading him to the Rangers in April of 2019 in exchange for a second- and third-round draft pick.

Fox broke into the NHL in 2019-20 with 42 points in 70 games for the Rangers, a performance that resulted in him finishing fourth place in Calder Trophy voting. In 2021, Fox exploded for 47 points in 55 games and won the Norris Trophy, edging out Cale Makar, who had won the Calder Trophy the previous year.

So far in 2021-22, Fox has nine points in nine games and the Rangers are off to a 6-2-1 start.

When Fox’s contract kicks in next season, he’ll have the fourth-highest cap hit in the NHL among defensemen, tied with Charlie McAvoy and Seth Jones, and behind only Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, and Zach Werenski. Fox would have been a restricted free agent at the end of the 2021-22 season.