Two legends praise 'outstanding' Tony DeAngelo in NHL return.

The decision by the New York Islanders to sign and bring back polarizing National Hockey League defenseman Tony DeAngelo was not without its critics, but you would be hard pressed to argue that it hasn't worked out well for the Islanders so far.

On Saturday, DeAngelo played in his first NHL game since he was a member of the Carolina Hurricanes last season and as it turned out he played a pivotal role in the Islanders picking up a victory over his former team. The Islanders would lose defenseman Ryan Pulock in the early stages of that game which resulted in a lot more work for DeAngelo on the ice than he would have otherwise anticipated.

DeAngelo however handled it well and received high praise from a pair of NHL legends following his return to the league.

"Outstanding," said Islanders head coach Patrick Roy cutting off the reporter who was asking him about DeAngelo's performance. "He was really good. I was very happy to have him tonight, I won't lie. He's smart, he moves the puck well, skates well, I think he's a good fit for us."

Roy also commented on how well DeAngelo played under difficult circumstances, with this being his first game on a new team as well as his first game in several weeks.

"He probably hasn't played a game since January 12th or 13th when he was in Russia," said Roy. "I thought he looked good, really good."

The coach on the other side of the ice also seemed impressed by DeAngelo's performance and went so far as to suggest that it was surprising to him that it had taken so long for his former player to find work.

"He’s too good of a player not to be in this league," said Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour.

This is of course an extremely small sample size and there is still plenty of time for this decision to potentially backfire for the Islanders, but thus far DeAngelo is not only doing his job but drawing very positive reviews from some big names while doing it.