The New York Rangers announced that Adam Fox has been named the winner of the 2020-21 Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, presented by Northwell Health.
The Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award is presented annually to the Ranger who, as chosen by the fans, “goes above and beyond the call of duty.” The award, which has been given annually since the 1987-88 season, bears the name of devoted Blueshirt fan and New York City Police Detective Steven McDonald, who was shot and injured in the line of duty on July 12, 1986 and passed away on January 10, 2017.
Fox is the second defenseman who has won the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award since it was first presented in 1987-88 (Brian Leetch – 1996-97). He has skated in 49 games with the Rangers thus far this season, registering five goals and 42 assists for 47 points, along with a plus-23 rating and 14 penalty minutes. In addition to leading NHL defensemen in assists and points in 2020-21, Fox leads the Rangers in numerous categories this season, including assists, average ice time (24:37), plus/minus rating, blocked shots (91), and takeaways (33 – tied for the team lead). He is the only NHL player who has logged at least 180:00 of power play ice time and at least 120:00 of shorthanded ice time thus far this season.
The 5-11, 181-pounder has accomplished several feats thus far in 2020-21. Fox posted a career-high 12-game point streak from Mar. 17 vs. Philadelphia to Apr. 8 vs. Pittsburgh, recording 22 points (three goals, 19 assists) over the span, and the point streak was tied for the fifth-longest by a defenseman in franchise history. He also tied the Rangers’ single-game franchise record for assists, as well as single-game franchise records for assists and points by a defenseman, when he tallied five assists and five points on Mar. 25 at Philadelphia. Fox’s 42 assists and 47 points this season are each the most by a Rangers defenseman at 23 years old or younger since Sergei Zubov in 1993-94.
The Jericho, New York native was acquired by the Rangers from Carolina on Apr. 30, 2019.
