By the time he was in Hartford he was done as a Ranger imo. Evaluating his play during his last stint down there isn’t an accurate example of the type of player Lias is or can be. You can tell his confidence was completely shot.
Sure, but that's not some mystery person's fault – it's his. He's 21 years old, has 60 something total NHL games to his name with like 10 points, and his best AHL production is about .5 points per game. Given all of that, having to go to Hartford isn't some slap in the face, it's totally reasonable.
Chytil scored at a better clip than him in both the AHL and NHL at every juncture so far, and Chytil started the season in the AHL. Shestyorkin is arguably one of the best goalies of his age on the planet and he absolutely dominated a men's league for years before coming to NA, and he got sent to Hartford. It's not like Lias got sent to Maine, he was one step below the big show as a young player who hadn't really forced the issue at any point yet. I agree that it might have been wise to give him some chances to play up even if he didn't earn them just to see what he'd do with it when the stakes weren't very high, but it's really not unusual for a team to not do that with a young player.
What type of player Lias is or can be depends on whether or not he ends up "done" with something just by facing some predictable and reasonable adversity. He's a guy without dazzling skill trying to make it in the NHL. There's going to be a ton of adversity, and tons of things that can potentially destroy his confidence based on what seemed to do it this time.
This is also what dings his value the most IMO. Not only is he publicly demanding a trade, and not only did he just leave the organization, but he seems to think he's above the AHL when there's really nothing concrete to support that. Unless some team is sure he's already an NHL player, and I'm not sure why they would be (I say that as someone who's been generally a fan of his since the draft), they're not going to want to part with anything of any value to take a flier on him.