If one wants to hold the Rangers responsible for the way Lias Andersson’s NHL career has (not) unfolded since he was selected seventh overall two-and-a-half years ago, then there’s a laundry list of credible arguments to support such an accusation.
One could blame the organization for inviting, if not directly placing, an undue amount of pressure on Andersson as the face of a “rebuild on the fly.” Not only as a long-term piece, but specifically one whom they felt was almost immediately ready to make an impact in the NHL as an 18-year-old.