Prospect Info: 2017 NHL Draft / Pick #7 - Lias Andersson (C)

[Mac n Gs]

I was a Middlestadt guy myself, but Lias has done nothing to make me be upset about the pick. He's doing well in his D+1 year against men, he's captaining the Swedes at the WJC, and you can see his tenacity on both sides of the puck. They went for the swiss-army knife guy that is a bitch to play against for other teams. He and Chytil both bring their own dynamics to the team that'll help us down the road for a long time. Would anyone be upset if he turned into a Brayden Schenn/Sean Coutourier type of player?

 

[Rangers in 7]

I was a Middlestadt guy myself, but Lias has done nothing to make me be upset about the pick. He's doing well in his D+1 year against men, he's captaining the Swedes at the WJC, and you can see his tenacity on both sides of the puck. They went for the swiss-army knife guy that is a ***** to play against for other teams. He and Chytil both bring their own dynamics to the team that'll help us down the road for a long time. Would anyone be upset if he turned into a Brayden Schenn/Sean Coutourier type of player?

I think the problem is everyone wants the flashy guy.....mittelstadt can stick handle in a phone booth as evident from his two games in the wjc so far this year but will that translate into the same in the nhl I have no idea

Lias like you have said is the type of player who can kill penalties and play on the power play which is a great piece to have, if he turns out to be anything like schenn or coutourier then that is a win both players are very good

 

[Ola]

We definitely tried to draft a ready now third line center and failed

According to who, some poster at this place that you are referring to that “lead you to believe” that he was ready to replace Stepan?

Any discussion here becomes so odd when you make up something like this.

I am not saying that the factor that Lias is mature on the ice and good defensively didn’t matter when we picked him, looking for contribution from him in year three or maybe even two, as opposed to year four-five as with most kids.

You need to be aware of that Lias wasn’t a big star in the SHL last season or in the WJC. He was one of the better in his age group, but I don’t think anyone who saw him thought he would step right in and contribute in the NHL. It is quit ridiculous to claim that to be honest...

 

[Mac n Gs]

I think the problem is everyone wants the flashy guy.....mittelstadt can stick handle in a phone booth as evident from his two games in the wjc so far this year but will that translate into the same in the nhl I have no idea

Lias like you have said is the type of player who can kill penalties and play on the power play which is a great piece to have, if he turns out to be anything like schenn or coutourier then that is a win both players are very good

Middlestadt will be a good player, but so will Lias. They fill different roles and bring different skill sets, and the Rangers opted to go for Lias. Still got a while to go before we can make any real conclusions on either player.

 

[Rangers in 7]

Middlestadt will be a good player, but so will Lias. They fill different roles and bring different skill sets, and the Rangers opted to go for Lias. Still got a while to go before we can make any real conclusions on either player.

oo absolutely, looking back through any draft can show us that plenty of teams don't get results from players right off the bat

 

[Irishguy42]

How many true freshman do you think PPG+ in the NCAA?

I'll run the last five years of stats for the big-10 for you.

Smirnov, Connor, Larkin. Three names.

If you PPG+ in the NCAA as a freshman, you're basically a lock. So I know the narrative that he's "not even a PPG+ player playing against "young guys" is nice and easy and safe, but in reality, it's not a good one, especially since he's just under a PPG pace, and again, if you're a freshman at 1+, you're (likely) going places.

It's amazing, but not entirely surprising, how defensive we get over our own draft picks. I imagine if we had picked Mittlestadt instead of LA, the narrative here would be that Casey is an obvious future top-6 C, but the jury is still out on where the 'safe' Lias Andersson tops out. Lias is a Ranger, we're all rooting for him, and we're all biased. It doesn't allow us to admit that maybe there were better options available. It doesn't allow us to put down LA and build up other players we could have had. And when we see people doing that, we have to defend our own.

Makes sense. That's how Elon Musk programmed us to be. Stay woke, y'all.

I'm not saying Middelstadt won't be/isn't good. I'm just saying that I think people are overstating/overrating how good he actually is in comparison to Lias.

 

[silverfish]

I'm not saying Middelstadt won't be/isn't good. I'm just saying that I think people are overstating/overrating how good he actually is in comparison to Lias.

Fair.

 

[Irishguy42]

Fair.

I do tend to exxagerate a little sometimes for the sake of making an argument. So that probably didn't help my case

 

[Fitzy]

Morgan Barron is younger than Mittelstadt, and has a similar PPG. He won't make a top 100 on prospect lists this year.

Not the best comparison but hey, NCAA hockey is tough to analyze on the stats (I've given this rant a million times)

Speaking of which, Barron will be back in action tomorrow night.

 

[Rangers in 7]

Morgan Barron is younger than Mittelstadt, and has a similar PPG. He won't make a top 100 on prospect lists this year.

Not the best comparison but hey, NCAA hockey is tough to analyze on the stats (I've given this rant a million times)

Speaking of which, Barron will be back in action tomorrow night.

so Barron should have been drafted before Lias is what im getting out of this.....

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

It's rare that players who turn out to be 60+ point NHL centers don't have dominant moments at the WJC.

Not seen much of that with Lias thus far. Small sample size and tourney isn't over, but you want to see more plays with the puck. Watching players like Nylander, Petersson, Middlestat the potential is obvious.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

I think the problem is everyone wants the flashy guy.....mittelstadt can stick handle in a phone booth as evident from his two games in the wjc so far this year but will that translate into the same in the nhl I have no idea

Lias like you have said is the type of player who can kill penalties and play on the power play which is a great piece to have, if he turns out to be anything like schenn or coutourier then that is a win both players are very good

It gets harder to execute as you move up levels. Schenn and Couturier didn't look like their NHL selves at the WJC, they looked like dominant potential top line Cs. Schenn especially. As they move up you often see players refine their game to play a more positional/subtle style. It is rare to see the inverse.

 

[Kovalev27]

Middlestadt will be a good player, but so will Lias. They fill different roles and bring different skill sets, and the Rangers opted to go for Lias. Still got a while to go before we can make any real conclusions on either player.

Totally

Mittelstadt will be a first line elite player and fill that role

Lias will be a third line winger/center pker nd fill that role nicely like so many other Rangers before him.

Great choice

We easily took the least skilled player in the top 10. Shouldn’t even be a debate at this point.

 

[Mac n Gs]

Totally

Mittelstadt will be a first line elite player and fill that role

Lias will be a third line winger/center pker nd fill that role nicely like so many other Rangers before him.

Great choice

We easily took the least skilled player in the top 10. Shouldn’t even be a debate at this point.

Yes, Kov, because you’re clearly being as objective as possible and not biased at all in these conversations. You don’t like Lias? Fine. Don’t act like he’s a bust or a reach just because you didn’t like the pick.

 

[Kovalev27]

I like Lias Andersson what’s not to like?

But you don’t get top 7 pics every year unless you’re the islanders or oilers so when you get one you better make it count. Andersson is the typical guy you can get in any middle first round.

Are you watching this USA game? Or last nights game? With 7 overall you take a dominant player.

 

[darko]

Totally

Mittelstadt will be a first line elite player and fill that role

Lias will be a third line winger/center pker nd fill that role nicely like so many other Rangers before him.

Great choice

We easily took the least skilled player in the top 10. Shouldn’t even be a debate at this point.

Lol.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Andersson is going to fill the role that Stepan did in the sense that he's a really good all around 50-60 point center and leader on whatever team he's on, but people hate him because he doesn't stand out enough

 

[Ori]

Casey Mittelstadt having a great game vs Canada - we can't deny that this friday evening. I`ve been watching the full game while waiting on Rangers!
Hopefully USA play against Lias and Sweden and we will get a better overall picture!
Or Buffalo play Rangers next year in 2018 season IF both Casey & Lias are NHL ready to see who dominates who? ))

 

[Mac n Gs]

I like Lias Andersson what’s not to like?

But you don’t get top 7 pics every year unless you’re the islanders or oilers so when you get one you better make it count. Andersson is the typical guy you can get in any middle first round.

Are you watching this USA game? Or last nights game? With 7 overall you take a dominant player.

Yes I’m watching, but the WJC isn’t an arbiter for a good prospect. Lias is playing well too. You keep downplaying his skillset, but I’m done arguing with you about him. Let’s just let his play do the talking.

 

[FireGerardGallant]

Why can't both Middelstadt and Andersson both be really good players. Both are really good players and are having good tournaments, which people need to be reminded its not the make or break for a prospect. If this tournament equated NHL success than Puljujärvi would be a star right now

 

[NickyFotiu]

My dad who still doesnt know LA or Chytil from Tom Seaver or Jerry Grote told me the say after the draft he thought the kid the Rangers drafted second looked much better in his video clips than the kid they drafted first. Now what does that mean? Absolutely nothing but my dad has zero bias about these guys so I can understand other folks questioning the pick at the time.

 

[darko]

My dad who still doesnt know LA or Chytil from Tom Seaver or Jerry Grote told me the say after the draft he thought the kid the Rangers drafted second looked much better in his video clips than the kid they drafted first. Now what does that mean? Absolutely nothing but my dad has zero bias about these guys so I can understand other folks questioning the pick at the time.

Off course Chytil looks better/flashier than Lias. Chytil is a flashy type player. Lias isn't. Lias is in Stepan/Bergeron mold.

 

[darko]

I like Lias Andersson what’s not to like?

But you don’t get top 7 pics every year unless you’re the islanders or oilers so when you get one you better make it count. Andersson is the typical guy you can get in any middle first round.

Are you watching this USA game? Or last nights game? With 7 overall you take a dominant player.

Middle 1st? Is that way he was ranked in 9-12 range by some experts.

 

[Machinehead]

Watching Mittelstadt at the WJC is making me slightly uncomfortable if I'm being completely honest.

 

[Alluckks]

Same ol' clowns with uninformed hot takes I see