How Tony DeAngelo is getting help to tackle his ‘maturity issue’

Tony DeAngelo talks with the hubris of a 23-year-old, one-time 19th-overall entry draft selection who can skate like the wind, move the puck, and possesses both an edge and elite offensive instincts, rather than as the fourth-year pro on his third organization off a two-game sentence in street clothes because of what his coach called, “A maturity issue.”

So it was the talent talking when DeAngelo, reinstated for Monday’s Garden match against the Kings, all but laughed when asked following the morning skate if he has contemplated the possibility this already might be his last chance in the NHL, five years after he was drafted by Tampa Bay, four years after he was traded to Arizona, and two years after he came to New York as part of the return for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta.

“No; I’m pretty confident in myself as a player,” No. 77 told The Post before the Blueshirts’ 4-3 overtime defeat. “I’m also not as crazy as people might think I am.”

All righty then.

see also

Rangers find a new way to let the Kings break their hearts

This wasn’t anywhere close to the 2014 Stanley Cup final,…

To catch you up on this, DeAngelo was scratched from both last Thursday’s match in New Jersey and Saturday’s contest at the Garden against the Lightning despite being in the midst of a six-game run as Marc Staal’s top-pair partner that represented the most impressive stretch of his brief Broadway tenure.

David Quinn then told The Post that DeAngelo was sitting because of “a maturity issue” related to an episode that occurred during last Tuesday’s match against the Flyers. This was a behavioral, rather than a hockey, matter.

“He and I have talked about it and are working on it,” the coach said. “He’s too good to let maturity issues get in the way of him becoming the kind of player he can be. It’s something he needs to work on and we need to help him with.”On Saturday, Quinn talked about focusing on the “big picture” as it relates to DeAngelo. He also said he thought the righty defenseman was “in the best place he’s been mentally” in the wake of several conversations between the men. Scratches, thus, perhaps as an intervention?

“We have had good talks. I know exactly what [Quinn] thinks of me, expects of me, and what he believes my career can become,” said DeAngelo, who played an impressive 17:49 paired primarily with Staal and set up Chris Kreider for the first goal with a centering feed from the right corner off a neat dash down the wall. “He explained that he’s trying to do what’s best for me over the long haul. We did talk about the big picture and what he wants for me as a player.

“There’s no problem between us. We’re on the same page.”

DeAngelo has been scratched a team-high 19 times this season. Suffice to say, these past two don’t represent the first time(s) he’s been held out for reasons other than performance. Behavioral matters have been an issue for years, with DeAngelo suspended a handful of times through his junior and pro career for hateful things that came out of his mouth.

“It’s an emotional game, I’m a competitor and sometimes I can lose control a little bit, but I’m working on it,” the South Jersey native said. “But I have to say that I’m much better now than I was in the past. I’ve got people helping me with it, but I’m also working on helping myself. I want to be able to stay on the ice.”

see also

How David Quinn addressed Tony DeAngelo’s ‘maturity issue’

So another teaching moment for another young Ranger denied a…

DeAngelo said the subject of visiting with a sports psychologist had been broached during discussions with management people, but that he is not seeing one at this point. “I’ve been through that, Tampa had someone, there was someone in Arizona, there was someone in the Soo [OHL Sault Ste. Marie]. I’ve talked to so many different people that at this point I don’t think that’s the way to go.”

The Rangers are putting in the effort with DeAngelo not because it is the civically responsible thing to do, but because they believe the payoff is worth the work. There are holes throughout the organization, but the team’s largest hole is on the right side of the blue line, where there is a desperate need for a player with DeAngelo’s exact and considerable skill set.

Now there is the not incidental matter of enabling that talent to trump the human frailties and impulse-control issues that have held him back. DeAngelo insists he is committed to the communal cause. We’ll see.