When current Montreal Canadiens executive Jeff Gorton and his hockey operations team made their way to the podium to announce the New York Rangers first round pick in 2017, they thought they were getting a franchise player.
At 7th overall they selected Lias Andersson, a 6’0 center who as an 18-year-old had just completed a solid season playing against men in the Swedish Hockey League. While it was considered a bit of a reach by some, he was rated outside the top 10 in most public pre-draft rankings, nobody could have predicted how big a bust he would turn out to be.