This has to be the end, doesn’t it?
Or does it?
Lias Andersson told club president John Davidson that he wants to be a Ranger, but the seventh-overall selection from the 2017 draft nevertheless declined an invitation to attend next month’s anticipated training camp leading into the 2020 Stanley Cup tournament, The Post has learned.
“We had discussions with Lias about coming over for camp, but he felt it was better for him to stay in his home country at this time,” Davidson told The Post. “We respect that decision.
“We had a number of good conversations. He told me he wants to be a New York Ranger. We’ll continue to hold his rights and down the road we’ll have discussions about where it’s best for Lias to play next season.”
Andersson, of course, has been a lightning rod since his surprise selection with the pick the Blueshirts had obtained preceding the draft with Tony DeAngelo in exchange for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta. He had played only 68 games over three seasons, mostly on the fourth line, recording a sum of three goals and nine points in 66 games.
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More to the point, though, he demanded a trade upon leaving the AHL Wolf Pack, and returning home without notice on Dec. 20 following 13 games with Hartford, where he’d been assigned on Nov. 17. The Rangers suspended him. There were then a number of discussions between Davidson and Andersson, who was granted permission to play with HV71 of the SHL.
“Every report we got was positive,” Davidson said of Andersson’s stay in Sweden, where he recorded 12 points in 15 games. “He played very well.”
Well enough for the Rangers to want to add him to their list for this intended camp that would serve as a lead-into the club’s qualifying best-of-five series against Carolina. Andersson and club personnel acknowledged a thaw between the parties. Andersson had talked of melancholia and undisclosed injuries to his feet, but the relationship certainly seemed to have regained its footing.
Rangers coach David Quinn reached out to Andersson a couple of weeks ago and it was a constructive conservation. Andersson, who has been skating regularly — as have most NHL player ensconced in Sweden — throughout the shutdown of pro hockey, would have had an excellent chance to crack the game lineup for the tournament. He would have been aided by Brendan Lemieux’s suspension for a still unannounced number of games.
But no. Not now.
And honestly, despite what we will presume every one’s best intentions, it is hard not to believe, not ever again.
But we shall see.