New York Rangers: Another Lias Andersson twist

Lias Andersson is going to be allowed to play hockey in Sweden.  The New York Rangers made the announcement on Sunday afternoon.

Lias Andersson was suspended without pay in December when he left the Hartford Wolf Pack and returned to Sweden.   Recently, the New York Rangers reopened communications with the former first round draft pick and he was allowed to practice with a junior team.  Now they have taken the next step and will allow him to play hockey.

In the official release, the team made no mention of the controversy surrounding his departure and subsequent suspension.  The deal has to be a loan as he is under contract to the Rangers and it is for the rest of this season.

"The New York Rangers announced today that the team has loaned Lias Andersson to HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).Andersson has split this season between the Rangers and the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), skating in 17 NHL games with the Blueshirts and 13 AHL games with Hartford. Andersson has played three seasons in the HV71 organization (2014-15 – 2016-17), including parts of two seasons in the SHL with HV71 (2015-16 and 2016-17), and he helped the team win the SHL Championship in 2016-17."

John Davidson reportedly got involved in recent days and reopened conversation with the young Swede.  If Andersson can prove that he is still a valuable player it can only help him and the Rangers in the future.

HV71

HV71 could use any help they can get.  They are currently in 8th place in the 14 team Swedish Hockey League (SHL).    In his last season with the team (2016-17) Andersson had nine goals and 19 points in 42 games and followed that up with four goals in 16 playoff games, when they won the league championship.

According to the team, Andersson will begin workouts on Monday with no timetable for his first game.  HV71 has a busy schedule upcoming with three games in the next five days starting with a match on Tuesday

On the SHL website, the team announced his return, indicating that it will be for the rest of the season.  Johan Hult, the Director of HV71 said “”It will be great fun to see Lias in the Kinnarps Arena again.”

He continued: ” We are, of course, very pleased that Lias will play in HV71 again. He is an incredibly good hockey player, a wonderful guy and he knows the club well after his years in Jönköping. We have had a good dialogue with the New York Rangers throughout the process and thank them for making this solution possible. ”

Andersson himself was quoted: “I am grateful that it was possible to solve in such a good way and look forward to wearing my HV shirt again. I have many good memories from my time in HV71 and will do everything I can to make the club successful.”

Thanks to Google for the English translation.