Canadiens take flier on former No. 7 overall pick

The Montreal Canadiens have added another depth signing, inking forward Lias Andersson to a one-year, two-way, $775,000 contract.

Andersson was drafted seventh overall by the New York Rangers in 2017, but has struggled to become a full-time NHLer. Andersson played just one game with the Los Angeles Kings this year after skating in 20 games the year prior. In six seasons, Andersson's career-high six points came in 42 games with the Rangers during the 2018-19 season.

The 24-year-old is coming off of a monster AHL season, though, recording 31 goals and 59 points in 67 games with the Ontario Reign. It’s the first time he has broken the 20-point barrier in any league since he had 20 points with Hartford in 2018-19, giving some a reason to believe Andersson could be a late-bloomer.

And that is exactly what the Canadiens are banking on here. Jeff Gorton, Montreal’s executive VP, was the Rangers’ GM when they drafted Andersson originally. Back then, Andersson was a highly-coveted forward after putting up an impressive 19 points in 42 SHL games, solid numbers for a draft prospect. He split the following year between the SHL, NHL and AHL and went on to captain Sweden’s world junior effort, only to lose to Canada in the gold medal game.

Andersson will likely start the year with the AHL’s Laval Rocket, but could fight for playing time in the big leagues with the Canadiens still in the middle of a rebuild. The Habs have $1.195 million in cap space, with the team’s only summer signings being deals for AHLers Philippe Maillet and Brady Keeper, both of whom signed minimum-league deals.