Lias Andersson is no longer with the New York Rangers, but he just won’t go away
The twisted relationship between the New York Rangers and Lias Andersson came to an end on October 7 when he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for a second round draft pick. Despite reviving his hockey career in the Swedish Hockey League and raising some hopes that he had a future in New York, the Rangers were clearly done with him. It was probably cemented when he refused the team’s invitation to join the squad that gathered to prepare for the Stanley Cup Qualifier series.
Now, Andersson has spoke to The Athletic (subscription required) and it is clear that the Swede is ecstatic that his time in New York is over. He didn’t pull any punches expressing his relief that he was traded. “My situation with the Rangers wasn’t the best, so, I was hoping to get traded here to another organization. When that happened, it was kind of a relief feeling. As I said, I’m just super happy right now. And I don’t even really know what to say – just that I’m very happy and excited.”
He didn’t get into the particulars of the issues he had with the Rangers except to say “I think I lost my game a little bit in New York and didn’t do the things I was good at.” That’s kind of an understatement. He lost a lot of credibility when he quit the Hartford Wolf Pack and returned to Sweden last season.
Andersson’s father, Niklas, is a scout for the Kings so there is a family connection. His best friend is Jacob Moverare, a defense prospect for Los Angeles. Clearly he is set up for success in Los Angeles and the Kings management is saying much the same about Andersson that the Rangers had to say after they drafted him. They cited his “high end talent,” his “leadership qualities” and said that he is “nasty and competitive.” Ranger fans will say we’ve heard it all before.
What Jeff Gorton had to say
After the trade, Jeff Gorton spoke about Andersson and expressed regrets that it didn’t work out. “Obviously you take a guy that high, you hope he has an impact sooner than later…you know…at this point in his career, it’s hard to say. ”
Andersson was selected seventh overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft after the Rangers got the pick in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes. Over parts of three seasons in New York, the 22 year old center played 66 games, scoring three goals and adding six assists. Some would argue that the Rangers made mistakes in how they treated him, mostly due to the high expectations that came with the pick, the highest the Rangers had in 13 years.
In an admission that they might have handled him the wrong way, Gorton actually said “Maybe we brought him over too soon. I don’t know, a lot of things didn’t go the way we wanted to, he’s still a young guy, needed a fresh start. We made a decision that maybe it’s better for him to move on and start over and the same for us.”
Gorton did say that Andersson’s play in Sweden helped them find a deal. “It definitely helped…he is more comfortable there…some teams called me and checked in time to time. We met as an organization. It’s time for him to go somewhere else and try and for us to get an asset to go that way.”
Gorton said that the Rangers pulled the trigger on the deal because they wanted Will Cuylle. “The player we got in that trade we liked a lot, we didn’t know if he’d be there at 60 so when he was there we decided it was time.”
His future
Andersson is having a solid season with HV71 in Sweden. He has one goal and three assists in four games, averaging 16:09 ice time per game. He’s not doing as well as he did in the preseason when he had five points in a single game against Linköping.
He isn’t a sure thing to make the Kings roster when the season begins and it will be interesting to see how it goes for him if he has setbacks as he did in New York. It’s ironic that he slots behind Gabe Villardi in the depth chart. The Kings took Villardi in the first round of the same draft as Andersson, four slot behind him at 11th overall.
As for Blue Line Station,the hope has to be that in the future, Lias Andersson will be relegated to articles about bad Ranger draft picks. joining Dylan McIlrath, Hugh Jessiman, Al Montoya, Pavel Brendl and Jamie Lundmark.
Lias Andersson has been one of the most volatile topics on the site with every article about him generating a lot of comments. Will this be our last Lias Andersson article? Probably not and though we wish him well, every Ranger fan is hoping that Will Cuylle turns out to be the player that Andersson never was in New York. We shall see.