New York Rangers first round draft pick Lias Andersson has resumed skating in Sweden and is reportedly back in communication with the team. There’s still no hint of what the future holds for the Swedish center.
In the last week, we got word that New York Rangers President John Davidson has been in direct contact with Lias Andersson who is in Sweden after being suspended for walking away from the Hartford Wolf Pack. Previously, Davidson had been speaking only with Andersson’s agent.
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The Rangers had suspended Andersson without pay on December 22 when he left Hartford and returned to Sweden. At the time he gave no reasons for his departure, but in early January he did talk to the Swedish press and made reference to vague physical and psychological issues.
The news was first reported by Larry Brooks of the New York Post.
There has been a thaw in the relationship between Rangers and Lias Andersson, Post has learned. Andersson and John Davidson have been communicating directly for about the last 10 days. Andersson has begun to skate/practice with Division II Kungälvs IK, with NYR approval.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) January 21, 2020
That was followed up with numerous reports in Swedish social media.
Avstängd av New York Rangers – här tränar Lias Andersson med division 2-klubben. https://t.co/5A55KAMpMw
— GP-sporten (@GPSporten) January 21, 2020
Vändningen kring Lias Andersson – uppges nu vara i direkt kontakt med New York Rangers https://t.co/CBY9B3oUtO
— SportExpressen (@SportExpressen) January 22, 2020
The Swedish newspaper Expressen did a story on Andersson when it was learned that he was back on the ice. He was quoted in the article and here is a rough translation: “It felt totally okay. It was pretty quiet. It’s the day before the match for the team. I had new skates and some other new equipment. It was nice to feel a little on the puck and find the feeling .”
It had been reported that he had injuries to his feet that contributed to his issues in Hartford and the Forever Blueshirts blog reported that he was trying a pair of custom Bauer skates specifically molded for his feet.
Kungalvs IK is a junior team, specifically the junior team he played for when he was a 15 year old in 2015. The theory is that he had to get permission to work out with another hockey club and that was a result of his conversations with Davidson.
Express reported that Andersson old them he is not at liberty to talk about his future, but that he would continue to train with Kungalv, saying he would see how his body felt and would “take it day by day.”
The fact that the Rangers and Andersson are talking has to be seen as good news. As much as the New York fanbase has had it with Andersson and his antics, the whole story has yet to come out. The issues with his feet and how that affected his mental attitude remains to be revealed, if it ever will be.
The other problem for the Rangers is that based on his performance in the NHL and his quitting on the Wolf Pack, his trade value is very limited.
Even if he has no future with the New York Rangers, getting him back to professional competition can only be to their advantage. The Rangers have his rights locked up for years, so he cannot even think of playing elsewhere.
At any rate, it now appears that we haven’t seen the last of Lias Andersson and the door is open for him to possibly even return to the Rangers organization, something that seemed impossible a month ago.