Sunday: As expected, the New York Rangers have suspended Andersson for leaving the Hartford Wolf Pack following his trade request, according to New York Post’s Larry Brooks.
Saturday: Rangers prospect Lias Andersson has had a limited role with the team this season and it appears he has had enough. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the youngster has asked for a trade and is no longer with the team.
Andersson, the seventh overall pick in 2017, has split this season between New York and their AHL affiliate in Hartford. With the Rangers, he has spent time at both center and the wing but has almost played exclusively on the fourth line. Overall, he has just a single assist in 17 games with the big club while logging just 9:33 per night. He hasn’t been overly productive with the Wolf Pack either since joining them in mid-November, notching just four goals and one helper in 13 contests. That hasn’t helped his chances for a recall which likely helped fuel this request.
The 21-year-old hasn’t had much stability since being drafted. He split his post-draft season between the SHL and the AHL (with a seven-game stint with the Rangers) and then had 36 AHL games with 42 NHL contests a year ago with this season following a similar pattern. That type of frequent change can certainly slow down development for many players and that has likely been the case here.
Considering he was the centerpiece of a deal that saw New York also land defenseman Anthony DeAngelo (with Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta going the other way) back at the 2017 draft, this isn’t a situation where the Rangers are going to be willing to just take whatever they can get for him even with Andersson leaving Hartford. Despite his struggles, there is still some upside which should result in considerable trade interest. While the roster freeze is in effect for another week, that should give GM Jeff Gorton an opportunity to call around the league to get a sense of what type of market there’s going to be and how quickly a trade can be done. Even if they do find a deal to their liking though, Andersson’s tenure with New York can only be classified as disappointing.
Thanks Quinn
How is this Quinn’s fault? The kid has not played well enough to be with NYR, and not even well enough for Hartford. If he thinks he should be in the NHL then he should play like it.
Why blame Quinn?Not his fault that Anderson has disappointed.
wouldnt trade my pocket lint for him
Keep drafting spoiled underachievers from afar..
How is this Quinn’s fault? The kid has not played well enough to be with NYR, and not even well enough for Hartford. If he thinks he should be in the NHL then he should play like it.
From afar?? No foreign players?
Some but not too many. Sort of like the Blues roster.
This is Quinn’s fault. Maybe he needs to show more, but it’s hard when you’re anchored to Brendan Smith and Michael Haley.
The rangers screwed this up… big.
Trying to screw up kravtsov too. Is this a rebuild? Yeah, then stop rushing guys and bouncing them all over the globe. They want a rebuild but don’t seem to have any plan of how to do it.
When Lias Andersson threw his WJHC silver medal in the stands; it was a forerunner of things to come. Having a tantrum on the world stage points to a huge character flaw.
Lolllllll nope
Lias Andersson – the newest member of the Puljujarvi-itis club. Driven there by Rangers’ mismanagement? That can be debated. It’s almost like some of them are looking at the NBA players and saying, “I, too, can just go sell my services to a *good* team that will give me the TOI that I deserve!” Worse, yet, he won’t be the last to do it…
Lias and Skeje for Pageau and sign him long term. 5 years 25 million
I think this is a joke but, That could be the worst trade in the history of hockey. Coming from a leaf fan who traded a potential hall of famer for Andrew Raycroft
Good trade. Make it happen JG.
You don’t know squat guy.
Skeje sucks and makes 6 million and Lias sucks too. Pageau gives us scoring and depth.
Kakko is just as bad
Kakko will be fine. A year from now you will change your tune
Kakko is definitely in a bad slump since coming back from that bout with the flu and might benefit from a stint in Hartford to get back some confidence. His 6/8/14 numbers in 32 games are far better than 0/1/1 in 17 games, suggesting Kakko is no better than Andersson is just silly.
The initial mistake was picking a guy projected to go in the late 20s, at 7….. that set up risky expectations that clearly won’t be met at this point in a blue shirt….
The next/last mistake will be when he gets traded to a another club for a 3rd or 4th rounder and we watch he become a productive 3rd liner.
It is what it is
1 for 1 Honka for Andersson change of scenery trade might make some sense.
Trade Lias for a Nose ??
Kakko has more of an upside than Andersson, as I see it he just hasn’t performed, I hope he can regain his scoring touch after the Christmas break , I wanted to see what he can do to help in this rebuild , just hope he hits his stride soon. Didn’t mean to say Kakko is bad. bad oversight on my part , thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Wouldn’t be opposed to Montreal trading for him provided they’re realistic in their demands.
Steve Yzerman will jump all over this
Really weak 2017 draft
The Rangers screwed this up big time. They should have sent him down with Chytil at the beginning of the season instead of garbage minutes with Smith/McKegg/Haley on the 4th line and have great expectations for his development. Howden has smooched the pooch multiple times but they stick with him… idk…maybe I’m missing something watching them game in and game out.