Prospect Info: 2024-2025 Rangers Prospects Thread (Prospect Stats in Post #1; Updated 1/8/2025)

[Ranger Ric]

Former prospect Lias Andersson gives up on the NHL.

Former 2017 7th-overall pick Lias Andersson signs in Switzerland | TSN

Forward Lias Andersson, the seventh overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, has signed a two-year deal in Switzerland with EHC Biel-Bienne.

www.tsn.ca

 

[GAGLine]

Former prospect Lias Andersson gives up on the NHL.

Former 2017 7th-overall pick Lias Andersson signs in Switzerland | TSN

Forward Lias Andersson, the seventh overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, has signed a two-year deal in Switzerland with EHC Biel-Bienne.

www.tsn.ca

Probably for the best. He can carve out a nice career there.

 

[nyr2k2]

Probably for the best. He can carve out a nice career there.

Yeah, he became an excellent AHL player. I'd expect him to do really well in the Swiss NL. He'll make a good buck playing in absolutely beautiful places while being close to home. Nice deal, sign me up.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Has the EHC closed ground a bit on the SHL as a league? I'm a little surprised that Lias never signed somewhere in the latter; he must have had some options.

 

[bl02]

Yeah, he became an excellent AHL player. I'd expect him to do really well in the Swiss NL. He'll make a good buck playing in absolutely beautiful places while being close to home. Nice deal, sign me up.

I cant believe he's gonna be 26. Where the heck does time go?

 

[RangersFan1994]

I cant believe he's gonna be 26. Where the heck does time go?

I can’t believe the Rangers drafted another 1st round bust, oh wait, yes I can sadly

 

[JimmyG89]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803824181424828807

Fortescue and Perreault are part of the summer showcase for Team USA. Both would be returning members.

 

[bhamill]

Can't wait to see what GP does in his sophomore season.

 

[noncents]

Can't wait to see what GP does in his sophomore season.

with Hagens..

 

[kovazub94]

Yeah, he became an excellent AHL player. I'd expect him to do really well in the Swiss NL. He'll make a good buck playing in absolutely beautiful places while being close to home. Nice deal, sign me up.

Gave up on a childhood / lifelong dream but most of us are forced to do it a lot earlier. Otherwise he’s still get to play a game for living and earn more than 99% could. As you said - nice deal.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Has the EHC closed ground a bit on the SHL as a league? I'm a little surprised that Lias never signed somewhere in the latter; he must have had some options.

NL has better salary structures than Sweden for hockey players. While the max salaries are similar in terms of gross pay, there are a lot of tax breaks available in Swiss hockey for players that will result in a higher net pay.

It's also a smaller country so there are no 10-hour bus rides to games like some SHL teams have to deal with. In most cases, players can sleep in their own beds after a road game.

Then of course the quality of life in Switzerland which is quite high, can be a really good reason to go there.

 

[eco's bones]

I can’t believe the Rangers drafted another 1st round bust, oh wait, yes I can sadly

FWIW it was not a very good draft. There was a top 6 and after that there were 30 guys that could have arguably been #7. Some of them turned out well but there were number of complete busts and even a couple in the top 6 struggled to make it. The Rangers drafted Chytil later in the 1st round....he was a late riser people figured for the 2nd so he was kind of a reach. He's become a good player who has issues staying healthy. Lias if I remember was thought of as a 15 to 25 pick.

Lias's D+1 year was pretty good. He captained the silver medal winning Swedish team at the WJC's.....played with a shoulder separation (?) and still managed to get something like 7 goals in the tournament. He had two major issues--he was a very average skater and he was a bit immature. Like Kravtsov he did not want to play in the AHL....he thought once he showed at training camp for the Rangers a spot was his. From that point on his time with the Rangers his game and attitude spiraled downhill. Those years from age 19 to 21, 22 can be super important for a young player. FWIW I think he kind of got his head together with the Kings organization. It was just a little too late. Players depending on the situations they're in can have windows of opportunity too. He became a very good AHL player but there weren't openings and when he was called up he was 4th line so the NHL part of his career basically has been over.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

FWIW it was not a very good draft. There was a top 6 and after that there were 30 guys that could have arguably been #7. Some of them turned out well but there were number of complete busts and even a couple in the top 6 struggled to make it. The Rangers drafted Chytil later in the 1st round....he was a late riser people figured for the 2nd so he was kind of a reach. He's become a good player who has issues staying healthy. Lias if I remember was thought of as a 15 to 25 pick.

Lias's D+1 year was pretty good. He captained the silver medal winning Swedish team at the WJC's.....played with a shoulder separation (?) and still managed to get something like 7 goals in the tournament. He had two major issues--he was a very average skater and he was a bit immature. Like Kravtsov he did not want to play in the AHL....he thought once he showed at training camp for the Rangers a spot was his. From that point on his time with the Rangers his game and attitude spiraled downhill. Those years from age 19 to 21, 22 can be super important for a young player. FWIW I think he kind of got his head together with the Kings organization. It was just a little too late. Players depending on the situations they're in can have windows of opportunity too. He became a very good AHL player but there weren't openings and when he was called up he was 4th line so the NHL part of his career basically has been over.

I have explained this before in detail but there was a huge difference between Andersson and Kravtsov in the way they were handled. Kravtsov I fully agree had maturity issues. With Lias Andersson it was a bit more complicated. He never complained when sent down to the AHL. The issue there was that when he was in the AHL in late 2019, he suffered multiple foot fractures, could barely walk and he requested to rehab in New York. That request was denied twice by Davidson.

He wasn't invited to team events because he was injured, and he felt himself slipping into a depression, feeling isolated in Hartford. He then flew back to Sweden without the team's permission for his own mental health.

There was definitely a better way to handle it but I give him a pass on that one. The Rangers org was a f***ing disaster at the time. It's still a bad pick, and he could have handled it better but unlike with Kravtsov, the Rangers completely mismanaged the situation. With Kravtsov we can argue that Drury shouldn't have yelled at him in front of his teammates etc, but that's not a reason to bolt for Russia IMO.

What Andersson was dealing with, from the people I spoke to at the time, is a valid reason to go back home and worry about your own well-being.

 

[kovazub94]

I have explained this before in detail but there was a huge difference between Andersson and Kravtsov in the way they were handled. Kravtsov I fully agree had maturity issues. With Lias Andersson it was a bit more complicated. He never complained when sent down to the AHL. The issue there was that when he was in the AHL in late 2019, he suffered multiple foot fractures, could barely walk and he requested to rehab in New York. That request was denied twice by Davidson.

He wasn't invited to team events because he was injured, and he felt himself slipping into a depression, feeling isolated in Hartford. He then flew back to Sweden without the team's permission for his own mental health.

There was definitely a better way to handle it but I give him a pass on that one. The Rangers org was a f***ing disaster at the time. It's still a bad pick, and he could have handled it better but unlike with Kravtsov, the Rangers completely mismanaged the situation. With Kravtsov we can argue that Drury shouldn't have yelled at him in front of his teammates etc, but that's not a reason to bolt for Russia IMO.

What Andersson was dealing with, from the people I spoke to at the time, is a valid reason to go back home and worry about your own well-being.

Were there reasons for the evil uncle Davidson to deny treatment and PT for Andersson when he was in Hartford? I honestly don’t think there’s no recourse for an injured player in these circumstances especially for top-10 draft picks like the Swede.

 

[bhamill]

Were there reasons for the evil uncle Davidson to deny treatment and PT for Andersson when he was in Hartford? I honestly don’t think there’s no recourse for an injured player in these circumstances especially for top-10 draft picks like the Swede.

I think he was given treatment and PT in Hartford, when he wanted to come to NY for it. Its not like they neglected him medically, they were just a bit petty over where...

 

[kovazub94]

I think he was given treatment and PT in Hartford, when he wanted to come to NY for it. Its not like they neglected him medically, they were just a bit petty over where...

Yup, then I don’t see a basis for Andersson’s “grievances”.

 

[bhamill]

Yup, then I don’t see a basis for Andersson’s “grievances”.

Depression is a very real thing, and you don't always make your very best decisions. I don't think anyone was genuinely "malicious" on either side. But both COULD have handled it better.

 

[kovazub94]

Depression is a very real thing, and you don't always make your very best decisions. I don't think anyone was genuinely "malicious" on either side. But both COULD have handled it better.

For sure though I don’t think Rangers were ever made aware of his depression issues until after he got back to Sweden.

 

[bhamill]

For sure though I don’t think Rangers were ever made aware of his depression issues until after he got back to Sweden.

Maybe they could have asked someone or paid a little better attention. That's why I say there was no malicious intent and both sides could have handled it better.

 

[kovazub94]

Maybe they could have asked someone or paid a little better attention. That's why I say there was no malicious intent and both sides could have handled it better.

I’m sorry but identifying depression or other mental issues is not something that the organization should be charged with, malicious or not.

 

[bhamill]

I’m sorry but identifying depression or other mental issues is not something that the organization should be charged with, malicious or not.

I’m a believer that it behooves the organization to be aware of such things. It’s in their own best interests to watch out for their assets and maintain their value even if no other reason, like human compassion for instance, moves the needle. Some of these kids are just teenagers. Youre free to believe otherwise.

 

[nyr2k2]

There's a lot about the Andersson situation that's murky, because things were coming out in cryptic interviews given by him to Swedish media figures as well as from his dad and his agent. I mean his agent came right out and said Lias didn't suffer from depression or mental health issues at all, which really IIRC was only something that our fans inferred from some unclear comments Lias had made. From the interview he gave where he talked about staying up all night waiting for the Swedes to get on Xbox and missing home or whatever it was.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1215314240388640768

And, as stated, he obviously wasn't happy with how the rehabilitation was handled, but it was also pretty clear that the Rangers didn't just neglect the situation and instead wanted to handle it differently than Lias himself.

All that is to say, there was a lot of bullshit going on with him, around him. Whether you think it was primarily perpetrated by him or not, I guess that's up to each person and the narrative they want to believe. I personally was highly critical of the Rangers at the outset of this fiasco, but it became more and more clear to me that the "blame" lay primarily with the player, here. I take it all the way back to when I argued until I was blue in the face that the medal throw situation was actually a sign of him being a fierce competitor, and not just a sign of immaturity. The kid had me fooled.

 

[kovazub94]

There's a lot about the Andersson situation that's murky, because things were coming out in cryptic interviews given by him to Swedish media figures as well as from his dad and his agent. I mean his agent came right out and said Lias didn't suffer from depression or mental health issues at all, which really IIRC was only something that our fans inferred from some unclear comments Lias had made. From the interview he gave where he talked about staying up all night waiting for the Swedes to get on Xbox and missing home or whatever it was.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1215314240388640768

And, as stated, he obviously wasn't happy with how the rehabilitation was handled, but it was also pretty clear that the Rangers didn't just neglect the situation and instead wanted to handle it differently than Lias himself.

All that is to say, there was a lot of bullshit going on with him, around him. Whether you think it was primarily perpetrated by him or not, I guess that's up to each person and the narrative they want to believe. I personally was highly critical of the Rangers at the outset of this fiasco, but it became more and more clear to me that the "blame" lay primarily with the player, here. I take it all the way back to when I argued until I was blue in the face that the medal throw situation was actually a sign of him being a fierce competitor, and not just a sign of immaturity. The kid had me fooled.

I don’t remember you coming out to celebrate medal tossing. Rather you were responding to negative takes on this situation, and at that point - there were absolutely no indications that this was a sign of a spoiled behavior rather than a competitive nature.

 

[Barnaby]

Maybe they could have asked someone or paid a little better attention. That's why I say there was no malicious intent and both sides could have handled it better.

You can’t always tell when people are depressed, and many folks - especially young men, aren’t exactly forthcoming with that information. I’d imagine young hockey players don’t go around talking about depression and anxiety. This whole thing still seems unclear. Was he depressed? Did he just suffer from a bad bout of homesickness? Was he just a spoiled brat because he didn’t like Hartford? Some combination of the above? At least he sounds like he has it together now.

 

[nyr2k2]

Yes, for me, no need to pile on Lias Andersson or beat him up over anything (I'm not suggesting people are doing this). At the end of the day, whatever the issues were with him, I think the biggest is that he just wasn't good enough to be an NHL player. If he's doing well and moving on to greener pastures, good for him.