Lias Andersson of the Rangers plays the puck against the Lightning at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 29. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Ultimately, coach David Quinn simply could not find enough ice time for Lias Andersson to justify keeping him, and so, on Sunday, a day after the 21-year-old Andersson played just 3:55 in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers, the Rangers demoted the 2017 first-round pick to their Hartford farm team. Left wing Tim Gettinger, also 21, was recalled from Hartford.
Andersson was the seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft, a pick the Rangers acquired in a draft day blockbuster deal that sent center Derek Stepan and backup goalie Antti Raanta to Arizona and also brought back defenseman Tony DeAngelo.