Rangers looking to trade for a “north-south” player
Lias Andersson wants to be traded and per Elliotte Friedman, Jeff Gorton is in search of a “north/south” player. What you need to understand is that these two statements aren’t linked. The truth of the matter is that trading a disgruntled prospect who hasn’t been able to make a real impression in almost three years isn’t going to be easy.
Everyone is speculating now
Larry Brooks’ latest article absolutely lambastes Lias Andersson for deciding to no longer report to the Wolf Pack. It is hard to disagree on that aspect of this whole saga and even more difficult to dispute that this only makes it harder to trade him.
At the conclusion of his column, Brooks speculates about a trade scenario of Lias Andersson to Nashville for offensively talented Eeli Tolvanen. If anyone is paying attention, he is the prospect Nashville refused to part with in order to land Rick Nash a few seasons ago.
While Brooks wonders why Tolvanen is still stuck playing in Milwaukee, most around the Predators feel he is an NHL ready prospect. As to why he hasn’t made it to Nashville full time remains to be seen, but if Andersson couldn’t land Jesse Puljujarvi from Edmonton in a deal, I don’t believe he will for Tolvanen either.
More players like Kreider and Lemieux wanted!
The Rangers desire to land a forward more willing to go up and down the ice in a straight line, is about a need. The Rangers are loaded with guys who love to play all over the ice. A majority of the forwards love to zig and zag, make cross ice feeds, and do figure 8s until fans start pulling their hair out. Simply put, the Rangers don’t have enough Kreider and Lemieux type players who love to just charge to the net and plant their big butts in the goalie’s grill.
If I am being honest, Kreider also likes to play east-west hockey from time to time. Right now, only Brendan Lemieux and Gregg McKegg consistently play north-south games and the Rangers desperately need to diversify their offense.
The question is, who’s out there and available? Both Tolvanen and Puljujarvi (who is ineligible this season) aren’t really north-south players. Ironically it is Lias Andersson who fits that description more than the other guys just mentioned.
Good Luck Jeff!
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