Confirmed with Link: Lias Andersson asks for trade. No longer with NYR.

[Ghost of jas]

If you look further down on the Dreger twitter thread there's a tweet from an Edmonton writer, Matheson, who says Oilers were offered Lias for Pulujarvi but EDM said no they don't think Lias plays with NHL pace.

What a surprise.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I don’t wanna bring up the name that shall remain nameless but didn’t we draft someone at 10 for his character and work ethic and drive?

No we drafted him to CLEAR DA CREASE AND PROTECC HONK

 

[JT Kreider]

Somehow, everyone here is blaming the org, when Lias hasn't shown any hint of NHL talent since day 1. Lias is a bust. That much has been obvious since about 20 game in to last season.

It is very easy to blame the organization when they have a terrible track record already, even before this.

There is a reason why nobody even remembers Steve Yzerman completely whiffed on a similar pick on Brett Connolly (even though he was a later bloomer to carve out a nice career for himself).

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

remember the looks on Gorton's and Gordie's faces on draft day. There was **** all concensus about Lias, but that retiring Swedish scout (can't remember his name) convinced everybody that this was the guy. They looked super uncomfortable on the way to the podium.

Ehhh I remember them being super high on him after they drafted him, Clark kept telling us how much the fanbase was going to love him.

I will say there was a very stark difference at Traverse city when Clark completely tore Lias apart to the media. That I remember vividly. It was bad enough that they took down the video and never re-posted it

 

[Cassano]

Somehow, everyone here is blaming the org, when Lias hasn't shown any hint of NHL talent since day 1. Lias is a bust. That much has been obvious since about 20 game in to last season.

The organization is the one who spent a top 10 pick on a glorified Anton Lander.

 

[nevesis]

This really does sum up his entire career here...

 

[LORDE]

No we drafted him to CLEAR DA CREASE AND PROTECC HONK

Well yes but he was touted as someone with character and ethic. I just want them to draft talent. Is that so wrong?

 

[Mikos87]

My fear is that JD and Gorton go too far the other way and bring in another hard ass like Babcock, Peters, or even Torts part deus. There needs to be a long term plan. Quinn was brought in to bring the kids along during the rebuild and ease them into action. When the team is ready to contend again, the idea I got was that Quinn would be usurped by a more established coach (Laviolette? Deboer? Who knows?)

It's very alarming from an organizational standpoint when you have the Kravtsov debacle, and now this ****show. All under Quinn's watch.

I would love Torts 3.0 (technically it would be 3.0), would absolutely love that. But I don't see CBJ firing him. DeBoer is a good option, as would Laviolette be after he gets canned.

There are a couple of people above Gorts that absolutely love Torts. It would be great to see another run with him to close out some unfinished businesses.

 

[RGY]

Sucks because Kravtsov just came back this week and this kid pulls this bullshit.

The crazy thing is, he should have been called up with this recent skid of garbage play. Just to have a shake up. Whether it was taking Howden or Smith’s place.

Let’s see what Gorton does now.

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

I don't know how you can tell an NHL coach to pencil in half his lineup with 18-22 year olds. Maybe the league's getting younger but it's still not that young. Something like Brendan Smith the forward is easy to clown on, I do it all the time, but within his defined role he's more of a positive player right now than Kakko, Andersson, Howden are, or Kravtsov probably would be.

 

[Brooklyn Ranger]

Rangers did not do a good job handling his development but I've pretty much lose any respect I had for him with this request.

He's not lighting up Hartford by any means. All we heard when he was drafted was character this, character that. And now his season isn't going great, and he wants out?

Get lost

Hockey is a business. If Andersson feels like he doesn't have a chance to succeed with the Rangers, what else can he do? Wait? For how long?

All things considered, I can see why Andersson thinks he's hit a wall with the organization. And it doesn't seem like the Rangers are trying very hard to keep him either--although it will take a while for the full story to come out. I suspect there's plenty of blame to go around.

 

[NikC]

I mean I hate to say I told you so but if you actually were being honest with yourself you could see the first day he stepped foot on the ice in Traverse City that we made a huge mistake. This kid cannot skate whatsoever. Cannot make any plays at any kind of real pace on the small ice. He is allergic to the puck and flat out laughable skating with it on his stick. He was a bust of a pick on day one. I can’t imagine there being much of a market for him. He flat out sucks. He could barely keep up in the AHL.

Then what did Clark see in him?

 

[JT Kreider]

Look, this kind of crap just shows what we all know, our organizational’s farm system is really mismanaged. Nobody wants to stick around. It’s been like this forever.

Glad we brought in the company man in JD.

Gorton also obviously has pretty big flaws.

Yes, rebuilds are a ton of fun on paper, but you actually have to hit on your high picks and returns of key players when they are traded. So far Gorton has not done a good job on either of those fronts.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Ehhh I remember them being super high on him after they drafted him, Clark kept telling us how much the fanbase was going to love him.

I will say there was a very stark difference at Traverse city when Clark completely tore Lias apart to the media. That I remember vividly. It was bad enough that they took down the video and never re-posted it

Meh, once we draft a guy then that's what they're going to say anyway. From what I remember, there were reports that practically every scout had a different opinion on that 7th slot, but the guy that wanted Lias pushed that much harder for him.

I'm not trying to take any of the blame off of Gordie. He's the head scout and is more responsible for the picks than any other person in the organization. Just stating what I remember.

 

[Baby Duck Homme]

Did we win the Stephan trade? Was it a push?

 

[mike14]

Please elaborate on the Denmark part

There's ghosts on the ramparts...

 

[Mikos87]

Ehhh I remember them being super high on him after they drafted him, Clark kept telling us how much the fanbase was going to love him.

I will say there was a very stark difference at Traverse city when Clark completely tore Lias apart to the media. That I remember vividly. It was bad enough that they took down the video and never re-posted it

I missed that video, can you elaborate?

 

[JimmyG89]

Well, you don't want to play here anymore, how does Ottawa sound?

Can't see the negative for them. Rebuilding and he'd play there. Mountains of picks and prospects to choose from. See what they can get you

 

[Mikos87]

Did we win the Stephan trade? Was it a push?

Depends on how many points DeAngelo outscores Stepan by at 15% of the price while playing defense.

 

[Kovalev27]

Yeah the Kravtsov thing is different. He did ultimately have a clause in his contract to go back. The problem with what he did was he went down and never even gave Hartford a shot. He mailed it in. He didn’t get much ice time because of it, And the first day his clause kicked in he was out. I can’t blame the coaching staff for that. His fault completely and he realized he screwed up and came back. Ultimately I think it was good for him.

I don’t put a lot of comparison between that situation and Lias doing what he’s doing now. He’s been in NA for 3 years. That coaching staff has been very good down there. They gave him top mins with their top AHl players he got first powerplay mins pk mins. Not their fault. This kid thinks he’s going nowhere here and he’s probably right. He knows they wanted to trade him last month prior to demoting him. He knows there are tons of guys ahead of him and more coming.

but things aren’t going to change in another NHL org. He’ll be back in Europe and will make a nice living there soon. He needs the big ice.

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

Did we win the Stephan trade? Was it a push?

Probably a push, we could have picked a better player but I'm sure that to trade out from that spot, the Yotes also saw it as a 5 or 6 player draft like all the pundits did.

 

[Brooklyn Ranger]

We got Kravtvsov fleeing and Lias now asking to be traded. Either something is foul internally or the kids today are extra selfish.

Apples and oranges--these are two completely different situations.

 

[gravey9]

I think Lias should go back to Sweden. Establish some sort of value. I don't think the Rangers can get much of anything for him at this juncture unless they can trade him for another near-bust.

Frankly, I don't think looking for a trade partner for Lias is worth Gorton's time. Lias just sunk what was left of his trade value. Sure, it's a big news story but there are bigger fish to fry. If someone calls about Lias, take the call.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Hockey is a business. If Andersson feels like he doesn't have a chance to succeed with the Rangers, what else can he do? Wait? For how long?

All things considered, I can see why Andersson thinks he's hit a wall with the organization. And it doesn't seem like the Rangers are trying very hard to keep him either--although it will take a while for the full story to come out. I suspect there's plenty of blame to go around.

He has every right to look out for himself and his career but that doesn't take away the fans right to crush him for asking for a trade.

If he was lighting up Hartford and the team wasn't giving him a fair shake, I could be more understanding. But he's done nothing since being drafted to help his situation. He's not even off his ELC and he's asking for a trade.

And to be honest, the Rangers probably know they drafted a poor player. The secret is out, the kid can't play at the NHL level. Edmonton straight up refused taking him without an add for this reason.

There's blame to go around for sure but asking for a trade now just leaves a sour taste

 

[FIRE DRURY]

I'm sorry but this isn't the rangers fault

When Quinn was being asked about Lias, there was one question that stood out to me..

The Reporter asked if moving Lias up would spark him, and Quinn said yes. But, Lias was never given that opportunity. As a coach, why wouldn't you want to attempt this and see how it plays out? You want to try and set your players up for success, not failure. Playing 7 minutes a night with Smith on your flank doesn't sound like a good situation.

I agree that Lias should have went balls out every time he hit the ice, but when you're dealing with 19 and 20 year olds, you have to realize there's a different approach here versus a 28 year old vet.

This is the second kid who's wanted out of Hartford. I put plenty of blame on the kids, but you can't say the Rangers are not at some fault here. They drafted him, and they did a pretty crappy job developing him.

So the blame goes both ways.

Great post, but this is what stood out to me most.

ding on Gorton’s resume for sure.

I think it's important to note that every GM has dings on their resume. No GM bats 100%. Those calling for Gorton's head for this are out of their minds. Way too early for any big decision like that.