If the order of first-round selections at the 2017 entry draft had been reversed and the Rangers had chosen Filip Chytil seventh overall and Lias Andersson 21st, there would have been no eyebrows raised at management’s decision to dispatch Andersson to the AHL on Friday during the final round of roster cuts.
But this is the second straight camp in which Andersson was unable to take advantage of an open invitation to make the Rangers, and indeed, the second straight camp in which the Swedish center leveled off after making a strong first impression.
General manager Jeff Gorton, coach David Quinn and the front office deserve credit for not forcing Andersson onto the opening 23-man roster in a cosmetic move to save face, but it is disturbing that the teenager (who will turn 20 on Oct. 13) was not able to force his way onto the roster the way that the just-turned 19-year-old Chytil and 20-year-old Brett Howden did.
Check that: It is disturbing that a seventh-overall selection was unable to crack the roster after having been touted as essentially NHL-ready when the pick — obtained from the Coyotes as the essential part of the Derek Stepan/Antti Raanta trade — was made in June 2017.
“The easiest thing for us to do would have been to say, ‘Look at us, all these young guys are going to be great,’ ” Gorton said. “We could easily have found 5, 7 or 8 [minutes] on the fourth line [for Andersson]. He’s that close, he’s pretty close to an NHL player. But sending him back is the right thing to do if we want to maximize where he is going and what he is going to be.“It’s a hard decision. It’s hard for him. Personally, I’d like to see him here, too, but the long game is better than the short one on this call.”
Mark Scheifele, a top-five center in the NHL, was selected seventh-overall by the Jets in 2011. He did not crack Winnipeg’s roster in 2011-12. He did not crack the roster in 2012-13. That did not mean he was a failure or that the selection was a failed pick. So it is asinine to rush to judgment on Andersson. If he becomes an NHL staple in a month, three months or another year (or even two), no one will care about this particular assignment to the AHL.
Still, with No. 50 having been selected one slot before potential franchise center Casey Mittelstadt was picked by Buffalo, it is fair to say Andersson hasn’t yet been what the Rangers envisioned 15 months ago … or even six weeks ago. At 21st-overall, you would shrug. At seventh, not so much. Or do you think the Devils are simply shrugging when it comes to evaluating their 2015 seventh-overall, Pavel Zacha, against Ivan Provorov and Brad Werenski, who went eight and nine, respectively?
“Personally, I would like to see Lias here, too,” Gorton said. “I understand about where he was drafted and all that, but for me, once they’re drafted where they’re drafted, it’s about getting them ready for the NHL.”
The Rangers could have created an artificial path for Andersson by moving Chytil to the wing, but the staff believes No. 72 belongs in the middle. In any event, if the Blueshirts had opened top-nine minutes in the middle, they would have gone by merit to Howden, Tampa Bay’s 27th-overall selection in 2016 who came to the Rangers as part of the package for Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller.
“[Howden is] a guy that plays a 200-foot game,” Quinn said. “He’s got a great mind, plays fast, he’s energetic. He earned his spot on this team.”
The Andersson-Howden decision represented the only mild surprise of the day. Alexandar Georgiev nailed down the backup goaltending spot that, barring a catastrophic showing, was his all along. Vinni Lettieri earned a spot off a furious final week in which he outplayed all competitors by a wide margin. Eight defensemen will start in New York, the outcome that has been evident since Brendan Smith reported for duty in tip-top shape.
So the training camp portion of the preseason is over. The Rangers have their 23-man unit, which for the first time since 2010-11 does not include McDonagh and for the first time since 2012-13 does not include Rick Nash. Still, February letter or not, management is not waving a white towel on 2018-19 before it begins.
“Yes,” Gorton said when asked if he believes the Blueshirts can compete for a playoff berth. “These are all NHL players. I’m never going to stand in front of a group of NHL players and tell them they’re not good enough or should have expectations any lower than that.
“We’re getting better every day. Who knows?”