Lias Andersson Named Winner of 2018 Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award

The New York Rangers announced today that Lias Andersson has been named this year's winner of the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award, which is given annually to the top Rangers rookie in Training Camp as selected by the media.
Andersson, 19, skated in five of the Rangers' six preseason games this year, registering two goals and a plus-two rating. Andersson, who was selected by the Rangers in the first round (seventh overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, tallied two goals - one on the power play and one while shorthanded - in the Rangers' preseason opener on Sept. 17 at New Jersey.

The 6-1, 204-pounder played seven games with the Rangers in 2017-18, registering one goal and one assist for two points, along with a plus-one rating. Andersson tallied his first career NHL goal/point while making his NHL debut on Mar. 26, 2018 vs. Washington, and he became the youngest player (19 years, 164 days old) to register a goal in his NHL debut in Rangers history.
The Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award, which was first presented in 1988, honors the memory of Lars-Erik Sjoberg, who was the Rangers chief European scout for eight years. During his tenure with the Blueshirts, Sjoberg played a prominent role in the team's decision to draft Europeans such as Tomas Sandstrom, Jan Erixon, and Ulf Dahlen. Prior to joining the Rangers as a scout, Sjoberg played five seasons with the Winnipeg Jets during their time in the World Hockey Association (WHA), and he also skated with Winnipeg in its inaugural NHL season in 1979-80. Current Rangers who have won the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award prior to this year include Henrik Lundqvist (2005), Marc Staal (2007), Jesper Fast (2013), Jimmy Vesey (2016), and Filip Chytil (2017).
In addition to Andersson, Filip Chytil and Vinni Lettieri received votes from the media for the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award this year.
LARS-ERIK SJOBERG AWARD WINNERS
1988 Mike Richter
1989 Troy Mallette
1990 Steven Rice
1991 Tony Amonte
1992 Peter Andersson
1993 Mattias Norstrom
1994 Mattias Norstrom
1995 Niklas Sundstrom
1996 Eric Cairns
1997 Marc Savard
1998 Manny Malhotra
1999 Kim Johnsson
2000 Filip Novak
2001 Dan Blackburn
2002 Jamie Lundmark
2003 Dominic Moore
2005 Henrik Lundqvist
2006 Nigel Dawes and Brandon Dubinsky
2007 Marc Staal
2008 Lauri Korpikoski
2009 Matt Gilroy
2010 Derek Stepan
2011 Carl Hagelin
2013 Jesper Fast
2014 Anthony Duclair
2015 Oscar Lindberg
2016 Jimmy Vesey
2017 Filip Chytil
2018 Lias Andersson