Back when the Rangers broke camp and picked their team to start the season, GM Jeff Gorton said the team decided to send 2017 first-round pick Lias Andersson to AHL Hartford because, at 19 years old, the organization believed it was better for him to play first-line minutes in the minors than fourth-line minutes at the NHL level.
“I think at this point, when we looked at Lias, what’s best for him is to play, and not be on the fourth line,’’ Gorton said at the time. “The more we talked about it, the more (clear it became), to me, as a 19-year-old, he needs to play.