Adam Fox (ice hockey)

Adam Fox (born February 17, 1998) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Calgary Flames, 66th overall, in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, but opted to go to college. He played collegiate ice hockey for Harvard University, leading all NCAA defensemen in the nation in assists and points in his freshman season, and leading all defenseman in the country in points per game and assists in his junior season. In June 2018, Fox's NHL rights were traded to the Carolina Hurricanes. They were then traded to the New York Rangers in April 2019. He left college a year early, and made his NHL debut for the Rangers in 2019. In his rookie season he tied for second among all NHL rookie defensemen in goals, and was third in assists and points.

Early life
Fox is Jewish, and was born in Jericho, New York, to Bruce and Tammy Fox. He has an older brother, Andrew, who is an investment banker. His nickname is "Foxy". He attended Jericho High School, and then Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he played hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.

Early career
Fox grew up playing for the Long Island Gulls as a youth.

He played two seasons (2014-16) in the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP) in Plymouth, Michigan. During his final season in the program, he led all under-18 defensemen in goals, assists, and points. He finished his career with the record for the most assists in a single-season (59; in 2015-16), the most assists in a career (86; in 2014-16), and the third-most points by a defenseman in USNTDP history.

He was named the 2016 IIHF World U18 Championships Best Defenseman, to the 2016 U18 World Hockey Championships Media All-Star Team, and won a bronze medal at the 2016 Championships.

Leading up to the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Fox was ranked 50th for North American Skaters in the final ranking by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. He was drafted 66th overall by the Calgary Flames.

College
Fox attended Harvard University for three years, majoring in psychology. He had an immediate impact after joining Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey team for the 2016–17 season. He led all NCAA defensemen in the nation, and ranked 4th among NCAA freshmen skaters with 40 points, led all NCAA defensemen and all NCAA freshmen skaters in assists with 34, and led all ECAC skaters in both points and assists, as he played 35 games. He was named 2017 ECAC Rookie of the Year and Ivy League Rookie of the Year after his freshman season. In his freshman season, Fox helped Harvard win the Beanpot for the first time since 1993 by recording a goal and an assist to beat Boston University 6–3. Fox also helped Harvard reach its first Frozen Four series since 1994 and win an Ivy title and ECAC Hockey Championship. In the Frozen Four semi-finals against University of Minnesota Duluth, the Crimson lost 2–1.

In his sophomore 2017-18 season, he had 28 points on six goals and 22 assists in 29 games. He was fifth in the nation among defensemen, averaging .97 points per game.

In his junior 2018-19 season, he had 48 points (9 goals, 39 assists) in 33 games for Harvard, and was the top scoring player and defenseman in the country with 1.45 points per game. He led the NCAA in assists and was fourth in points, while also setting school single-season records for assists and points by a defenseman. Fox broke the school record for points by a Harvard defenseman in one season, set by Mark Fusco in 1983. He was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in college hockey, won the 2019 Walter Brown Award, and was an Academic All-Ivy honoree. Fox was also named to the NCAA First All-American Team and ECAC First All-Star Team in each of his three seasons (2017-19). In 97 career games, he had 116 points (21 goals, 95 assists). He left Harvard before his senior year to play in the NHL, and is five classes short of graduating.

Professional
On June 23, 2018, Fox's NHL playing rights were traded (along with Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland) to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin.

On April 30, 2019, Fox's NHL rights were acquired by the New York Rangers in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and what would become a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. On May 2, Fox signed an entry-level contract with the Rangers, with a maximum entry-level salary ($925,000 plus bonuses). He won the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award as the top Ranger rookie in training camp in 2019.

He made his NHL debut in 2019. He finished the 2019-20 season with 42 points (8 goals, 34 assists) in 70 games. He tied for second among all NHL rookie defensemen in goals, and 3rd in points, assists, and PPP (13). He became the fifth rookie defenseman in franchise history to have at least 40 points in a season, joining Ron Greschner, Reijo Ruotsalainen, Brian Leetch, and Mike McEwen.

International play
Fox has represented the United States men's national junior ice hockey team at both the 2017 and 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

In 2017, Fox won a gold medal with Team USA while recording four points in seven games. The following year, Fox was named an alternate captain for Team USA at the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He led Team USA to a bronze medal while leading the team's defensemen in assists and points.

Following the conclusion of his collegiate career, on April 19, 2019, Fox was selected to represent the senior United States team at the 2019 IIHF World Championship held in Bratislava and Košice, Slovakia.