There might not be hockey in North America for a while, but overseas, players are preparing for the Karjala Tournament in Helsinki, Finland. Lias Andersson is now in lockdown, as the tournament is being held “bubble style” to limit the potential transmission of COVID-19.
Prior to the tournament, Andersson has been playing in the top-tier Swedish league. He was suspended for five games at the start of the season last month for a dangerous hit on Jonas Berglund and missed 21 days. Then last week, he was himself victim to an ugly hit from Emil Heineman in just his second game back from suspension (the wrong player is identified in the following Tweet):
Situationen mellan Mattias Göransson och Lias Andersson. #SHL #LIFse #HV71 pic.twitter.com/Tn5d3HDp7o
— Anton (@antonj85) October 27, 2020
While cooped up in the hotel with his Tre Kronor teammates, Andersson spoke with HockeyNews, a Swedish news site. Worth noting in the interviews, Andersson isn’t sure if the Kings want him to stay in Sweden for the entire season. He was loaned to HV71 while under contract with the New York Rangers, after requesting a trade from the organization. The young forward isn’t sure if Rob Blake is interested in him coming to the States this year.
“I actually do not know myself yet. They have not sat down and talked about it properly, so we will see what LA says and what they want, quite simply,” Andersson says (via Google Translate).
He does clarify that they’ve been in communication, the possibilities are just a bit more open right now. “Yes, I have. I talked about the trio and all that and have received a welcome. It feels good. Then I just try to focus on the here and now so agents and all that is taking care of it from the outside.”
As for his season with HV71, Andersson knows it hasn’t been perfect. “I think it has been up and down. I think I had a very good start to the season and a nice pre-season and got into it well. Then I ended up a little unhappy there with the suspension thing and missed x number of weeks because of it and have had to play three games before the break, so it was nice to get them in and I feel like I get better and better and stronger and stronger every day that goes.”
Andersson has two goals and four assists in eight games so far this season.
Here’s a quick glance at how the rest of the Kings are doing abroad (Note: I broke it down by league, to give an easy comparison of how players in the same league are performing. This does mean that goaltenders Juho Markkanen and Lukas Parik, as well as forward Kasper Simontaival have multiple entries, as they have been shifted up and down between leagues):
-HockeyAllsvenskan-
Samuel Fagemo, LW/RW
Team: Södertälje SK | 2020-21 Stats: 13 GP, 3 G, 3 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 194 | Shoots: R
Carl Grundström, LW/RW
Team: IF Björklöven | 2020-21 Stats: 8 GP, 2 G, 4 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 194 | Shoots: L
Johan Södergran, LW/RW
Team: Almtuna IS | 2020-21 Stats: 12 GP, 1 G, 2 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-3 | Wt: 205 | Shoots: L
-SHL-
Helge Grans, D
Team: Malmö Redhawks | 2020-21 Stats: 11 GP, 2 G, 4 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-3 | Wt: 192 | Shoots: R
Lias Andersson, C/LW
Team: HV71 | 2020-21 Stats: 8 GP, 2 G, 4 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 22 | Ht: 5-11 | Wt: 205 | Shoots: L
Tobias Björnfot, D
Team: Djurgårdens IF | 2020-21 Stats: 6 GP, 0 G, 1 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 203 | Shoots: L
-U20 Mestis-
Juho Markkanen, G
Team: Ketterä U20 | 2020-21 Stats: 1 GP, 5.00 GAA, .815 SV% | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 146 | Catches: L
-U20 SM-sarja-
Aatu Jämsen, RW
Team: Pelicans U20 | 2020-21 Stats: 16 GP, 9 G, 19 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 157 | Shoots: L
Juho Markkanen, G
Team: SaiPa U20 | 2020-21 Stats: 1 GP, 5.00 GAA, .865 SV% | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 146 | Catches: L
-Mestis-
Kasper Simontaival, RW
Team: TUTO Hockey | 2020-21 Stats: 5 GP, 3 G, 4 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 5-9 | Wt: 172 | Shoots: R
Juho Markkanen, G
Team: Ketterä | 2020-21 Stats: 6 GP, 2.77 GAA, .890 SV% | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 146 | Catches: L
-Liiga-
Kasper Simontaival, RW
Team: Tappara | 2020-21 Stats: 4 GP, 0 G, 1 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 5-9 | Wt: 172 | Shoots: R
Kim Nousiainen, D
Team: KalPa | 2020-21 Stats: 7 GP, 3 G, 1 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 19 | Ht: 5-10 | Wt: 170 | Shoots: L
Jacob Moverare, D
Team: SaiPa | 2020-21 Stats: 7 GP, 0 G, 1 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-3 | Wt: 198 | Shoots: L
-KHL-
Alexander Dergachyov, C/RW
Team: Vityaz Podolsk | 2020-21 Stats: 17 GP, 5 G, 4 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 24 | Ht: 6-5 | Wt: 216 | Shoots: L
Bulat Shafigullin, LW/RW
Team: Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 2020-21 Stats: 16 GP, 0 G, 0 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 163 | Shoots: L
-Czech U20-
Lukas Parik, G
Team: Bili Tygri Liberec U20 | 2020-21 Stats: 1 GP, 2.00 GAA, .926 SV% | Nationality: CZE | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-4 | Wt: 185 | Catches: L
-Czech2-
Lukas Parik, G
Team: HC Benatky nad Jizerou | 2020-21 Stats: 6 GP, 3.64 GAA, .881 SV% | Nationality: CZE | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-4 | Wt: 185 | Catches: L