Another twist in the Lias Andersson story

It looks like the Lias Andersson’s career with the New York Rangers is taking another turn

As the New York Rangers are making plans for the continuation of their season, they are turning to a player who many believed had no future with the club.  According to reports out of Sweden, the team has been in contact with Andersson and are considering adding him to the expanded roster for the qualifying round of 24 teams.

In his conference call with the media last week, John Davidson said  that he and David Quinn had been in touch with Andersson, but he said that no decision had been made about which players will be on the 28 man roster or will be invited to the mini-training camp.

Johan Rylander of the Swedish newspaper Gotebergs-Posten spoke with Andersson and tweeted Wednesday morning that the  New York Rangers had contacted Andersson about returning for the playoffs, but that he was unsure about coming back.

Andersson’s story is well known to followers of the New York Rangers. He had a tumultuous 2019-20 season, but upon his return to Sweden and loan to the HV71 hockey club, he showed  the skill that resulted in the Rangers selecting him seventh overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He scored seven goals and added five assists for 12 points in 15 games and he showed the feisty style that made him so attractive to the Blueshirts.

He has been skating and training in Sweden where ice rinks are open so he is game ready, unlike most of his North American counterparts.  Also, while rosters  for the qualifying round are believed to be 28 players, it’s very possible that teams will bring more players to their training camps in order to assess who will make the final cut.

A return make sense

Bringing Andersson back to the training camp for the qualifying round makes a lot of sense.  He has one more year left on his entry level contract and the Rangers have to decide what to do with him.

They have several options.  The first is to let him play another season in Sweden, on loan.   If he continues to play well it will only enhance his future value and as he would be on loan, he could be recalled at any time.

The second option would be to bring him back to North America for next season and give him a full opportunity to make the 2020-21 Rangers with the understanding that he could be assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The last option is a trade.  There have been rumors that the Rangers have had conversations with the Oilers about a swap for Jesse Puljujarvi.   The key question is whether Andersson could put his issues with the team behind him.  If not, a trade is the only option and the Rangers will do anything they can to increase his value.   One thing is for sure, they won’t give him away.

That’s why bringing Andersson to this training camp with a chance to make the postseason roster makes a ton of sense.  It would be a fresh start and an opportunity for the organization to evaluate him.  How he does could go a long way towards determining the path that the team will want to take next season.

Could it work?

The unanswered question when it comes to Lias Andersson is what exactly forced him to leave the Wolf Pack and return to Sweden?  He has  alluded to some issues in New York and Hartford including a foot problem that hindered his play.  It took Rangers President John Davidson to re-open the lines of communication with him when he was suspended after leaving the team.

Andersson is still young, turning 22 in October, and the Rangers would be foolish to give up on him.  At seventh overall, he was the highest draft pick for the Rangers since they selected goalie Al Montoya sixth overall in 2004.

Its important to note that of the 217 players drafted that year, only ten have played more NHL games than Andersson’s 66 games and four of them were top five picks.  The team clearly rushed him to the NHL when he might have benefited from more development time.

It’s in their best interests for the Rangers to end up with a productive NHL player in Lias Andersson.  Bringing him back for this resumption of the season is a good first step.