It was only a couple of years ago that Lias Andersson appeared to be a key cog of the future down the middle for the Rangers when they made him the seventh-overall pick in 2017. However, while he has spent all of this season in the NHL and more than half of last year with New York, his playing time has been extremely limited (just 9:54 per game so far in 2019-20). Accordingly, Larry Brooks of the New York Post opines that the team may need to consider trading the 21-year-old over running the risk of having his value drop even further. The Rangers don’t appear to be interested in sending him to AHL Hartford for more playing time and he isn’t playing his way off the fourth line either which leaves them at a bit of a crossroads. If they don’t think he’s part of their long-term core moving forward, then perhaps the time is right for a move and considering his age and draft pedigree, there would be considerable interest around the league.
More from the Metro:
- While the Penguins are still evaluating the injury to Sidney Crosby, they’ve already announced (Twitter link) that he has been ruled out for tomorrow’s game against the Rangers. Crosby suffered a lower-body injury early in the third period on Saturday versus Chicago. While his offensive output is down this season (he has 17 points in as many games), he’s still Pittsburgh’s top player and leading scorer and any prolonged absence would be a tough blow.
- The Islanders appear to be close to getting forward Leo Komarov back in the lineup. Newsday’s Andrew Gross notes that he has taken part in two straight practices with the team and appears to be on track to return on Wednesday after missing the last nine games due to neck soreness and an illness. Which role he’ll fill remains to be seen as Gross mentions that center Casey Cizikas’ availability for Wednesday is up in the air and if he can’t go, Komarov may wind up taking his place down the middle as he did earlier this season.
Straight up for Puljujarvi
Ah, the old “considering his age and draft pedigree”. Now adding Lias Andersson to the Puljujarvi list, hoping that at least one team forgets there are several players in every draft who, unfortunately for them, turn out to be busts. Usually due to snapshot-scouting, instead of longer-term evaluation. At some point, a team is going to get over themselves and admit they screwed up on a guy and move on from him.
Ever hear the legend of David Rundblad? It takes a looong while before the league would ever give up on him.
The cap era is changing everything – including the idea of “extra patience” with top draft picks. The teams that hope an extra 2-4 years of development will turn their slug into a Top-10 guy are doing to be dwindling. Better scouting will cut down on those instances, but scouting has to improve to reduce the number of busts.
Maybe in a rebuilding year, the Rangers shouldn’t be anchoring one of their top prospects with Brendan Smith and Michael Haley. They’ll get destroyed on any trade they do with Andersson, someone just needs to give him an actual opportunity.