The New York Rangers kept wheeling and dealing at the 2020 NHL Draft, sending forward Lias Andersson to the Los Angeles Kings for the 60th selection on Wednesday afternoon.
With the pick, the Rangers selected defenseman William Cuylle from the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
The move ends the Andersson experiment in New York, though it never necessarily got off the ground.
Andersson was a highly-touted forward coming out of Sweden in the 2017 draft with the Rangers taking him at No. 7 overall.
He appeared in just 66 games in the NHL with the Rangers, compiling a lean three goals and six assists — shuttling between the big club and New York’s AHL affiliate in Hartford more than anything.
An inability to secure regular playing time saw the young forward abruptly leave Hartford and head home to Sweden which was met with a suspension handed down by the Rangers. Shortly after, he demanded a trade away from Broadway.
In August, the Rangers loaned Andersson to HV71 in Sweden’s professional hockey league but still offered an invitation to train with the team over the summer, to which the 21-year-old declined.
The Kings will be hoping a change of scenery can help re-spark the youngster and help him get back on track toward meeting expectations that come with being a top-10 draft pick.
As for the Rangers, they used the pick to get a hard-nosed, big-bodied defenseman to add to their young depth along the blue line in Cuylle.
