When Lias Andersson was sent down by the New York Rangers to Hartford back on November 17th, some saw this as inevitable given his limited ice time and being relegated to the fourth line for most of the early season. In 17 games with the Rangers, Andersson had only netted one assist and averaged 9:33 of ice time, and was also a -8 with 4 PIM. In 66 career NHL games, Andersson has totaled three goals and six assists.
It was decided by head coach David Quinn that, for now, it would be more beneficial for Andersson to be playing important minutes in Hartford rather than being stuck playing fourth-line center with the likes of Micheal Haley, Brendan Smith, and even Greg McKegg.