Report: Rangers’ Lias Andersson staying in Sweden when NHL returns

New York Rangers centre Lias Andersson will reportedly not return to the team when the NHL resumes play this summer. (Mary Altaffer/AP)

Lias Andersson has declined an invitation to return to the New York Rangers when the NHL season resumes, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports.

Andersson will instead remain in Sweden, where he’s been for most of 2020, according to Brooks.

Andersson requested a trade from the Rangers in December after two seasons where he split time between the NHL and AHL. After returning home to Sweden, Andersson was loaned to SHL club HV71, where he appeared in 15 games and collected 12 points before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the season.

Andersson originally came over to North America late in the 2017-18 season and in that time scored three goals and nine points in 66 NHL games and 15 goals and 39 points in 74 AHL games. His entry-level contract with the Rangers expires after the 2020-21 season.

The Rangers are among 24 teams that will participate in the NHL’s return-to-play format and will face the Carolina Hurricanes in a five-game series for a spot in the playoffs. Teams will be permitted to expand their rosters to include prospects and other minor-leaguers for those games, whenever they happen.

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