PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Lias Andersson is on an expiring contract in the NHL.
Which has raised the hopes of both Frölunda and HV71.
Now the 24-year-old opens up about the future and gives his message about an SHL return.
Last three seasons have Lias Andersson belonged to the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL. It has been a total of 44 games in the world’s best hockey league during that time and the Swedish forward has really established himself in the NHL.
Andersson in the NHL
Things have been better in the AHL and Andersson is coming off a real super season with the farm team Ontario Reign. It was an impressive 59 points in 67 games and the 24-year-old won both the shooting league and the scoring league for Swedes in the AHL.
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But despite the success, the future is still highly uncertain for Lias Andersson, who is on an expiring contract and will become a “restricted free agent” this summer. Because of that, rumors have started about a possible SHL return, where both Frölunda and HV71 have got their hopes up.
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Lia’s own message
Now the Swede breaks the silence and announces his own hockey future.
– I have an expiring contract, so we’ll see what happens in the future. I still belong to the Kings, have outgoing but no decisions made yet. We’ll see what happens, says Andersson to the newspaper JP/Jnytt.
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At the moment, Lias is back home in Sweden again and is taking the opportunity to keep up the training with the previous club HV71. Together with the teammate Jacob Moverare the LA Kings duo showed up at HV practice on Monday.
Return in the SHL
HV71 has previously announced that they are interested in spearheading the team building with Andersson and now the contact is also confirmed.
– Well then, we’ve always had a dialogue and I’ve known “Nubben” (Kent Norberg, sports manager) for a long time, so we have a good understanding, says the 24-year-old to the local newspaper.
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But now Lias Andersson unfortunately has to kill the rumors about an SHL return to neither HV71 nor Frölunda. His ambition is a new NHL contract with either the Kings or another team in North America.
– You always want to play in the NHL, as everyone in this room wants to. The ambition is to play in the NHL, but then it has to fit with a contract and where above all else. There are many things that will simply click, so we’ll see a bit, he says in the interview.
24-year-old Lias Andersson has scored a total of 56 points in 120 games in the SHL for HV71 and Frölunda. It was the best with the HV team in 2017 when he helped win the club’s latest SM gold.
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