The last word on Lias Andersson from David Quinn

Was it his linemates?

Quinn was asked if Andersson’s deployment on the fourth line with admittedly inferior linemates contributed to his lack of success

"“I get that…everybody talks about that.   But there are things you need to do regardless of who your linemates are. And this isn’t about points, its about…you watch the game and a player should be doing this and they’re doing that…a player should be doing this quicker and they’re not doing it quicker.  A player should be physical and they’re not physical.  That has nothing to do with who your linemates are.  So, those are the things…and I’m not just talking about Lias, but in general, right?  A lot of players think along those lines and to me that’s a bit mistake.   That’s a big mistake if that’s what players are thinking cause you should be able to be an effective player regardless of who you’re playing with and the things this game is going to demand and you should be able to do it regardless of who’s on your wing or who your defense partner is.  I understand that  you  may be in defensive positions more depending on who your wingers are or your partner is defensively  or whatnot, but at the end of the day, there’s an easy evaluation process for an individual, regardless of who their linemates are or who their defense partner is.”"

Again, Quinn returned to his theme that it was Andersson’s effort that was lacking and not the fact that he was playing with Micheal Haley and Brendan Smith.  It’s also a word of warning to any Ranger players that dissatisfaction with linemates or assignments can have dire consequences.

Again, he was questioned about Andersson’s deployment and was asked why the Swede never had an opportunity to play in the top nine in an effort to spark his play. Quinn’s answer was simple,  “I don’t wanna take one guy out whom I think should be playing, and it’s not just a small sample,  the guys build trust, they build  a bank account when they make good plays  so, we certainly thought about that, but we didn’t do it.”

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That is consistent with Quinn’s coaching style.  He tends to stick with his line combinations in games and players are demoted only when they screw up.  It’s quite a departure from the style of Alain Vigneault who never hesitated to shake up line combinations when things weren’t going right.  Still, a top six player banished to the Quinn Bin could have been an opportunity for Andersson and it never seemed to happen.

His answer also begs the question as to why Andersson never got moved up even when the Rangers were playing horribly as in the Tampa game. I’ve raised that issue before, going into the third period trailing 8-1 is the perfect time to shake things up and it never happened.

Quinn was asked if Andersson had a future on the wing since there appear to be four centers on the team ahead of him (Mika ZIbanejad, Filip Chytil, Ryan Strome, Brett Howden) no matter how well he does in Hartford.   He conceded that was a possiblity, “I think if he plays well, I think there’s an opportunity…I think everything’s on the table for him.  If he goes down there and plays well, and we bring him up, maybe we do put him on the wing.  But at his age, I still want to give him a fair opportunity in the middle.”

An assessment

If Lias Andersson goes to Hartford and does as well as Filip Chytil, we could see him back in New York.  But if he comes  back to the Rangers and is a fourth line wing or center, getting fewer then ten minutes per game, the fear has to be that it will a repeat of what has been happening for two years.

When Quinn was asked about Brett Howden, another young center who has been struggling, his answer was very different. “I think Howds (Howden) s getting better and better. I liked his game the other night.  One of the things, again, for a young player, (is) consistency, playing on the right side of the puck… when he does that he’s an effective player. I think he’s doing that more and more.”

If you compare Andersson and Howden statistically, they are not that different.  Andersson actually has a better faceoff winning percentage, has more hits and more takeaways, while playing an average of six minutes less per game than Howden.  And Howden is playing with Kaapo Kakko and Brendan Lemieux.  Offensively, Howden has two goals and two assists and has only one assist in his last ten games and is minus four in that span.

In the last two games, when the Blueshirts allowed seven power play goals, guess which Ranger forward had the most time on the penalty kill?   Nope, it wasn’t Lias Andersson, it was Brett Howden.  As a matter of fact, after the Tampa debacle, Andersson didn’t play at all on the penalty kill against Florida and Howden played 64% of the time the Blueshirts were shorthanded.

Quinn has thrown down the gauntlet.  He has challenged Andersson to go to Hartford and play his way back to New York.   That’s all well and good, but if past history is to be believed, it won’t mean a thing.  In fact, what Andersson may be doing if he excels with the Wolf Pack is improving his trade value.   All indications are that it may be in his best interests to do exactly that.

The Wolf Pack have games Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.  We’ll keep you posted.