Prospect Info: 2017 NHL Draft / Pick #7 - Lias Andersson (C)

[WesMcCauley]

I like that he got sent back to Sweden. He need time to develop his offensive game to a level that can help him be a beast twoway center in the NHL. Very happy that we didnt keep him in NY and played him on the 4th line and on the PK. I think he can be a 50-60+ point center with fantastic defense. But he need time to work on his offense and playing on the 4th line in the NHL is not the place to do so. I wouldnt mind him staying in Sweden for 2-3 years before he makes the team. With Chytil looking as good as he does, absolutely no reason to keep Lias in NY just because he is a top 10 pick.

 

[Deleted member 23124]

For anyone concerned with finding Andersson a spot to play, he can play all three forward spots. Hayes can also play wing, he did so in college.

Hayes has not played well on the wing since he's been here.

 

[Machinehead]

Hayes has not played well on the wing since he's been here.

Hayes has not played well at center since he's been here, but I digress.

 

[Inferno]

Hayes has not played well at center since he's been here, but I digress.

i dunno...i kinda disagree.

i know everyone has players they hate..but it seems like you hate him far more than is even remotely fair. just like silverfish with JT Miller.

Hayes' fancy stats suck because he tries to find high quality plays...thats just his game. i think hes a good player that needs to find a little more consistency and sometimes just make the simpler plays...hes still pretty young, and plays a high leverage position.

 

[Machinehead]

i dunno...i kinda disagree.

i know everyone has players they hate..but it seems like you hate him far more than is even remotely fair. just like silverfish with JT Miller.

Hayes' fancy stats suck because he tries to find high quality plays...thats just his game. i think hes a good player that needs to find a little more consistency and sometimes just make the simpler plays...hes still pretty young, and plays a high leverage position.

He's 25. He's no longer at a point where he's going to learn to stop pretending he's Gretzky.

 

[Fugazy]

We should have been aiming for a player with a much higher offensive ceiling with the #7 pick. Honestly, I wish we had gotten Strome instead of #7 (in addition to DeAngelo).

Just poor drafting, picking a guy whose ceiling is a #3/4 C with our highest draft pick in over 10 years. Pretty pathetic. Thank goodness for Chytil stepping up and looking like a potential stud, otherwise this we would have had another miserable draft.

His ceiling is certainly higher than a #3/4 C.

 

[Tawnos]

Hayes has not played much on the wing since he's been here.

There, I fixed that for you

There’s no way for us to have evaluated him as a winger. I don’t think he’s lined up for a single game at that position since the first couple of months in his rookie year. Shifts here and there don’t give you any basis for anything.

 

[JimmyG89]

Andersson and Chytil remind me of Carter and Richards when they were drafted by the Flyers. If they can develop into those kind of players, we'll be in good hands for a while.

They're similarly described as well. There is no reason to rag on Andersson for being drafted 7th and not making it, then project him to be a 3rd/4th liner at best. My hope is Chytil becomes dynamic and we can view them as 1Cs that compliment each other perfectly.

 

[nyr2k2]

Yeah I really don't see how one could describe Andersson as having 3/4C upside. That, to me, is his floor. He's a really, really safe bet to be no worse than a 3C. Unless you think he has no room for growth, which is preposterous, then there's definitely more upside to him than that.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

We should have been aiming for a player with a much higher offensive ceiling with the #7 pick. Honestly, I wish we had gotten Strome instead of #7 (in addition to DeAngelo).

Just poor drafting, picking a guy whose ceiling is a #3/4 C with our highest draft pick in over 10 years. Pretty pathetic. Thank goodness for Chytil stepping up and looking like a potential stud, otherwise this we would have had another miserable draft.

Andersson has a higher ceiling that #3 center. Come on now. He might not be as flashy as Chytil but that doesn't mean he is worse. Andersson is a better all-round player than Pettersson for instance. But everyone loves Pettersson because he is great offensively.

 

[silverfish]

just like silverfish with JT Miller.

New HF, who dis?

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

Yeah I really don't see how one could describe Andersson as having 3/4C upside. That, to me, is his floor. He's a really, really safe bet to be no worse than a 3C. Unless you think he has no room for growth, which is preposterous, then there's definitely more upside to him than that.

No longer the flavor of the week....

 

[Levitate]

Yeah I really don't see how one could describe Andersson as having 3/4C upside. That, to me, is his floor. He's a really, really safe bet to be no worse than a 3C. Unless you think he has no room for growth, which is preposterous, then there's definitely more upside to him than that.

It's the downside to being called "NHL ready" right after you're drafted. Everyone assumes that player is so much more developed and closer to their ceiling.

I think if no one had said "yeah he could be NHL ready right now" then people wouldn't be acting disappointed right now. We'd all be saying "oh yeah he looked good! he's just not quite there yet, that's OK"

 

[Ori]

No longer the flavor of the week....

As AV mentioned indirectly it`s best for him to develop in Sweden, and without the media spotlight directed at you. And as 18 years old I`m not sure if it`s an ideal situation at all, because
he need to focus on his own hockey skillset and how to improve in that top 6 role in Sweden. There are probably journalists who will travel to Sweden to get the latest news, but I don`t mind that he is not the `flavor of the week`, or the next months when we continue with our New York Rangers season.

 

[Tawnos]

Yeah I really don't see how one could describe Andersson as having 3/4C upside. That, to me, is his floor. He's a really, really safe bet to be no worse than a 3C. Unless you think he has no room for growth, which is preposterous, then there's definitely more upside to him than that.

I think that Andersson is pretty close to an NHL 3C right now. Honestly, had he made the team, I think he would've progressed as the year went along and had a similar year to Bergeron's rookie season (35ish points). How many players are at their ceiling at 18? And that's not to say that him going back to Sweden is a bad thing. Bergeron played 13 minutes at even strength per game that year, which was good for 2C on that Boston team until they acquired Nylander. You'd expect the Rangers 3C to see similar time.

The biggest difference here is that for most of that season, if Bergeron wasn't on the team, the next best center the Bruins had was Travis Green. With the Rangers, you already have Zibanejad and Hayes and while Zibanejad is no Joe Thornton, Hayes is a damn sight better than Green. Plus JT Miller, who will get time at C if Chytil ends up with nothing more than the 9 games. In other words, the Rangers don't need Andersson on the team, even without Chytil's performance. If the Rangers were flat-out rebuilding, Andersson would've stuck around.

In the end it came down to Hartford or Sweden. While there was a ton of hockey benefit to be had putting him in Hartford, I think the personal benefit of playing in Sweden ended up being the deciding factor. This guy is likely future captain material. Let him experience the personal growth. The hockey will come along with it.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

As AV mentioned indirectly it`s best for him to develop in Sweden, and without the media spotlight directed at you. And as 18 years old I`m not sure if it`s an ideal situation at all, because
he need to focus on his own hockey skillset and how to improve in that top 6 role in Sweden. There are probably journalists who will travel to Sweden to get the latest news, but I don`t mind that he is not the `flavor of the week`, or the next months when we continue with our New York Rangers season.

I completely agree. I didn't think that Chytil should have the made the team regardless. Because he's so young.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

Yeah I really don't see how one could describe Andersson as having 3/4C upside. That, to me, is his floor. He's a really, really safe bet to be no worse than a 3C. Unless you think he has no room for growth, which is preposterous, then there's definitely more upside to him than that.

How many times have we heard this over the years? "McIlrath's floor is at least a 3rd pairing stay at home Dman" most recently. Andersson's floor is a bust.

That said I fully agree he has more upside than that. I think his reasonable upside is a 50ish point defensive minded center...a Derek Stepan like player if you will.

 

[nyr2k2]

How many times have we heard this over the years? "McIlrath's floor is at least a 3rd pairing stay at home Dman" most recently. Andersson's floor is a bust.

That said I fully agree he has more upside than that. I think his reasonable upside is a 50ish point defensive minded center...a Derek Stepan like player if you will.

Floor and ceiling are both projections, sure.

As I said, I think he's a really safe bet to be a 3C. He's probably the safest prospect we've drafted in a long time. The last guy I thought was this safe for a decent NHL career was Skjei. Some guys are just built to play in the NHL. I absolutely believe Andersson is one of those guys.

But yeah, he could bust. When I share what I believe a player's floor to be, I'm not making any guarantees.

 

[RangerBoy]

View media item 105He will be fine in Sweden.

 

[RangerBoy]

@jjkatz613 asks: Was the trade to get Lias Andersson (drafted seventh overall in June) a successful one for the New York Rangers? How will Lias impact the team’s future?

While it’s very difficult to gauge the winner of the Derek Stepan trade before any games have even been played, let me put it this way: I know for a fact that another NHL team was going to draft Andersson very soon after the seventh selection if he was still on the board. So, New York had to strike early if that was their guy. I’m a big Andersson fan. I first saw him last summer at Team USA’s world junior summer tournament and the Swedish coaches were also very pleased, calling him their best center during the first several games (and keep in mind, Joel Eriksson-Ek was also there and playing very well). After another year or two in Sweden, Andersson will come over and be an impact player for New York. I can see him as a 1B kind of center, bringing the same kind of production and two-way play as a young David Krejci or, ironically, Stepan. He’s quick, tenacious and skilled – three great qualities.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/a...o-defensemen-on-the-rise-2018-nhl-draft-watch

I will take this player for Stepan.

 

[RangerBoy]

The team prepared to take Andersson after the Rangers at #7 was Detroit at #9



Custance was answering a question about the Red Wings. He would know the inner workings of the Red Wings being the managing editor of The Athletic Detroit.

 

[Vitto79]

Team should be in good shape when Chytil and Andersson are at C w Zib. Shift Hayes to Rw. Nash likely gone

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

The team prepared to take Andersson after the Rangers at #7 was Detroit at #9



Custance was answering a question about the Red Wings. He would know the inner workings of the Red Wings being the managing editor of The Athletic Detroit.

I've also seen reports that Kings had Lias very high up their list, so that's 2 teams within the next 4 picks. Explains why we didn't trade down.

 

[RangerBoy]

The Red Wings European scout Hakan Andersson does a very pretty good job with finding European players for the Red Wings. They really liked Andersson at #9.

 

[nyr2k2]

Team should be in good shape when Chytil and Andersson are at C w Zib. Shift Hayes to Rw. Nash likely gone

IDK about moving Hayes to the wing, but that's for a different discussion. In general I agree that with Andersson and Chytil the team has taken big strides to address their center depth, and assuming they can hold onto their first rounder for this season, could potentially be in great shape.