Toronto Maple Leafs: Should they inquire about Lias Andersson?

The development of young, promising players is a difficult and delicate business and is one that the Toronto Maple Leafs have worked hard on over the past few seasons.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have built a team largely from within, with the majority of their line-up consisting of players that have progressed within their development system.

While the Leafs have had great success with promoting players to the big leagues over the past few years, the same can’t be said in the case of Lias Andersson and the New York Rangers.

The 21-year-old seventh overall selection in the 2017 Draft is clearly unhappy with how things have panned out since being selected by the Rangers, with TSN’s Darren Dreger reporting on Twitter that the Swedish forward has requested a trade.

The Rangers originally traded Antti Raanta and Derek Stepan to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for the seventh overall pick, along with Anthony DeAngelo, and felt that Andersson was worth the jump despite being ranked closer to the middle of the first round.

After being drafted, Andersson returned to Sweden to play for Frolunda but was ultimately brought over to North America after captaining his country to a silver medal at the World Junior Championships.

Since moving to North America, Andersson has bounced between the NHL and AHL, racking up 66 appearances (three goals, six assists) in the NHL and a further 74 (15 goals, 24 assists) in the minors.

This bouncing between teams has likely had a somewhat stifling impact on Andersson’s develop, in a similar way that saw Jesse Puljujarvi opt to return to Finland instead of signing an extension after his entry-level deal expired.

Andersson, it appears, has decided to take a different route in his NHL career, with another year remaining on his own ELC after the 2019/20 season.

With the holiday roster freeze in place, the Rangers appear set to explore the possible trade market for Andersson, who has also contributed to a World Championship-winning team in 2018.

With the young forward clearly available, should the Leafs give him a serious look?

Having a young guy brought in that can be placed in the Marlies and be given some real focus on his development, with a view to giving him a shot in camp next summer, could be an interesting prospect for both general manager Kyle Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe, both of whom are keen to develop through youth.

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The Leafs are in somewhat of a cap bind and could do with offloading at some stage this season, particularly someone such as Cody Ceci, who has shown he is just not what the team needs along the blueline.

With the Rangers still trying to work out where they are at in their rebuild, the Leafs could have some intriguing roster players that the New York organisation may be interested in taking on to have an immediate impact.

Andersson clearly has talent and a fresh start with a new organisation may be the best for him to progress in his career and the Toronto Maple Leafs could be an ideal destination for him.

Figuring out a suitable trade may be a stumbling block for the Leafs, but it could certainly be something the organisation be interested in giving some consideration to over the next few days.

What do you think Leafs fans? Should the team take a look at a potential trade for Lias Andersson? What would a fair and realistic trade look like? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!