Why Rangers coach remains unphased by Adam Fox 40-game goal drought

The New York Rangers season continues to spiral after another disappointing loss, 5-1 to the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Monday night. Though Adam Fox continues to play well despite the team’s issues, there is one area he most certainly wants to improve upon.

The 26-year-old defenseman hasn’t scored a goal all season. And taking it back to last season, his goal drought stands at 40 games

The former Norris Trophy-winner scored an NHL career-high 17 goals last season, and that’s despite missing 10 games with a knee injury. Fox capped off his 2023-24 campaign with a goal in the final regular-season game against the Ottawa Senators on April 15. Incredibly, he hasn’t scored since.

Fox went all 16 games in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs without scoring a goal for the Rangers, and has yet to find the back of the net in 24 games this season. Though Fox still piles up points, earning 56 assists last season, an additional eight in the playoffs, and 20 so far this campaign, it stands out that he’s yet to score a goal

But Rangers coach Peter Laviolette is anything but concerned about Fox and his goal drought.

“I think he’s been really competitive,” Laviolette explained Tuesday “You know, he is shooting the puck. There’s been two times the last couple of games he’s been delivering pucks to the net and they got through the first layer but didn’t get through the second layer, or they got blocked at the first layer. So, he is trying to deliver pucks and bring pucks to the net.”

Fox had a season-high five shots on goal in the loss to the Devils, but cannot seem to find the back of the net. According to Natural Stat Trick, Fox has 33 individual scoring chances for, including three in high-danger situations. He has an individual expected goals of 2.25, which isn’t a whole lot, but it’s more than zero.

Peter Laviolette looking for Rangers star to ‘play the right way,’ not score goals

Despite the lengthy goal-scoring drought, Laviolette believes Fox is doing all of the right things for the Rangers, and that it’s only a matter of time before he finally pots one.

“He is attacking downhill in the offensive zone,” Laviolette said. “When he is doing that, he is bringing pucks to the net. He’s also looking for plays, he sees the ice as good as anybody out there.”

So, while Laviolette recognizes that his top defenseman is yet to score a goal this season, he also knows that there are much bigger issues at hand. The Rangers are now 1-6-0 in their past seven games, and have done a complete 180 from when they were 5-0-1 to begin the season.

The Rangers need to figure things out in a hurry and turn this season back around. A couple of goals from Fox would go a long way, but the way he plays the game is much more important.

After all, Fox is averaging just under a point per game, just doing so with assists rather than goals and helpers. The only reason why it stands out this time around is because of the situation the team finds themselves in.

“If our team is finding wins and finding a way to be successful, then we’re definitely not even talking about (Fox’s drought) because he’s a part of it with regard to (success),” Laviolette explained. “We’re bringing up something inside of a time where our team’s not doing well. I haven’t talked to him about scoring a goal. I’ve talked to him more about his play, being a two-way defenseman, playing good defense, contributing offensively, whether that means not even getting a point, just contributing offensively because those are his strengths.”

Fox leads the Rangers in assists and is tied for second in points. He also averages a team-high 22:48 TOI and his metrics are far and away best on the Rangers. Notably, the Rangers outscore opponents 19-11 at 5v5 with Fox on the ice and out-chance the opposition by 59, per Natural Stat Trick.

The Rangers are simply better when Fox is out there, even if he’s not scoring goals yet.

With the Pittsburgh Penguins rolling into town Friday, the Rangers have a great chance to get this season back on track against a struggling Metropolitan Division rival, which is last in the division standings.

Perhaps even Fox will be able to breakout with a goal. But what’s most important is his all-around play, and helping the team get back to their winning ways.

“It hasn’t been about, ‘hey we need you to score a goal,'” Laviolette said. “It’s we need to play the right way, do the right things, and that’s where we can be better.”