It’s impossible to measure just how much pressure 19-year-old Lias Andersson is under. He is one of just four forwards that the Rangers have taken with a top-10 pick in the last 20 years. The last time the Rangers picked higher than seventh overall was in 2004 when Glen Sather selected Al Montoya sixth overall; before that it was Pavel Brendl at fourth overall in 1999. One could say that with Andersson the Rangers find themselves sailing in unfamiliar waters, hoping to navigate around some of the franchise’s previous shipwrecks.
Jeff Gorton made a huge investment in Andersson long before the teenager stepped onto the stage in Chicago after hearing his name called.