Adam Fox doesn’t want to talk about his future with the Rangers yet.
Fox, who returned to the lineup during the Blueshirts’ 3-2 loss in overtime to the Flyers on Thursday, addressed reporters for the first time since his Jan. 5 injury and the first time since president and general manager Chris Drury released The Letter 2.0 last month.
He said he felt “a little helpless” when the Blueshirts were losing and the retool was announced as someone who wasn’t able to contribute, with Fox a key organizational piece throughout the last seven seasons and someone who’s under contract through the 2028-29 season.
When asked about the future, though, Fox opted to focus on this season instead — and defer those conversations to after the year.
“I mean, I’m just trying to focus on this year right now and play each game,” Fox said. “That’s really all I can do right now, could control — is I was just trying to work to get back and help the team finish strong. So I think that’s where my head’s at. … I think that’s a conversation when we’re done playing games.”
Fox, a Long Island native and a former Norris Trophy winner, has collected 28 points in 31 games this season, but he has played just four times since Nov. 29 because of a shoulder injury and then the lower-body one sustained last month three games after initially returning.
This has marked the first season of his career with an extended absence.
And as someone who has anchored Eastern Conference finals runs with the Rangers and established himself as one of the top power-play defensemen in the league, he’d be set to remain a cornerstone into the future given his contract situation.
The Blueshirts inked Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year deal last offseason to be his blueline partner, too.
That doesn’t mean the present has been easy for Fox to handle, though — with the injury and the change of direction by the franchise stacking together.
“I mean, we’re competitive people in here,” Fox said. “We want to win, and you lose a guy like [Artemi Panarin] and you don’t know what else could happen obviously. We put ourselves in this position, and that’s what happens. Yeah, it obviously, you know, sucks, when something like that happens.”
