Lias Andersson has likely played his last game for the Rangers. Despite a thawing in the frosty relationship between the two teams and an invite to the 2020 training camp, Larry Brooks reports that Andersson has decided to remain in Sweden. This applies not only for the playoffs but also for next season, which might apply even if he was traded, which appears to be the next step.
I know others are not surprised but I am. After the interview Andersson gave to Johan Rylander (https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=105878) and positive direction in which the relationship between the two parties was progressing, I really thought Andersson would be back with the team for the play-in-round training camp. Clearly I was way off-base and now Andersson's tenure with the team may have run it's course. The return for him will be minimal at best and it's possible president John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton just have Andersson run out the rest of his contract in Sweden.
Update: The below was in Brooks' column, which differs from his second tweet above. It appears as if the door is not closed on Andersson being part of the Rangers next season. In addition, if he does play in Sweden, that will be a decision reached by the team, since the team owns his rights, as Andersson is under contract through 2020-21.
“We had discussions with Lias about coming over for camp, but he felt it was better for him to stay in his home country at this time,” Davidson told The Post. “We respect that decision.
“We had a number of good conversations. He told me he wants to be a New York Ranger. We’ll continue to hold his rights and down the road we’ll have discussions about where it’s best for Lias to play next season.”
Taken seventh overall in 2017 with the pick acquired from Arizona as part of the Derek Stepan trade, Andersson was rushed to the NHL and also misused to an extent. The relationship between Andersson and Quinn is most certainly not a good one, as Andersson felt he deserved to be in the lineup and also not buried on the fourth line based on his performance in camp. Andersson was left out of the lineup and sent to Hartford. After a short period of time in the AHL, Andersson, without permission, departed from Hartford and returned to Sweden, creating bad blood with the team. Mental illness was a component of his decision to return home with JD re-establishing a somewhat positive relationship and New York allowing Andersson to play for HV-71. Despite these efforts and improvement between the two sides, Andersson has opted to stay home. Fortunately, the Rangers acquired Tony DeAngelo as part of the same trade.
The hovering question, which has been asked by others, is if Quinn is at fault for what happened and is his treatment of Andersson, along with Vitali Kravtsov, before his demotion, an issue moving forward. Quinn clearly believes in tough love, seen also in his comments on Pavel Buchnevich, and how he works the team. It's possible he may need to dial it back, recognizing this is the pros and not college. I do still feel Quinn is the right coach for this team and his harder edges will be softened over time. But Andersson heading back home, Kravtsov going back to the KHL and Filip Chytil needing a stint in Hartford all must be evaluated to determine if a pattern exists and the cause of each of these transactions.
Could New York re-engage Edmonton in discussions for a similarly disgruntled Jesse Puljujarvi? Maybe talk to Buffalo regarding Casey Mittelstadt, who went eighth overall and may were clamoring for the Rangers to select? Maybe package him with another player, like Brendan Smith, for a draft pick to free up cap room. I would say nothing if off the table for Andersson, who is under contract for 2020-21 to the Blueshirts.
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