LA Kings: Lias Andersson returns today, sells car to pay fine

LA Kings prospect Lias Andersson returns to action today, but he was forced to sell his car to pay the hefty fine for his tackle.

If you know anything about how the SHL handles hits that are deemed a “high-risk injury”, then you know the hammer is going to come down on those respective players. It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Lias Andersson, who was acquired by the LA Kings for the 60th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Andersson, 22, was serving a five-game suspension when he was traded. He noted that he saw a Los Angeles number calling his phone and thought it was his bank or something. Instead, it was the LA Kings’ brass asking if he’d like a fresh start in the City of Angels.

The former seventh overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft has immense talent, but things didn’t pan out with the New York Rangers for whatever reason. Last year, he left the team, was suspended, and loaned to HV71 of the SHL for the remainder of the year. Andersson began the year with HV71, scoring a goal with 3 assists in his first four games before being suspended.

To return, he was forced to sell his car to pay the SHL’s fine imposed on him.

Loosely translated, Andersson indicated that he earns SEK 280,000 a month, approximately $32,100 in US Dollars. And the SHL slapped him with a SEK 80,000 fine ($9,200 USD) for the tackle that can be seen below.

"“All Swedish players in the SHL, who have gross salaries and pay taxes as usual, set aside a very large part in SHL’s pension fund. So it hurts when you get such a high amount. I actually sold my car and paid for it (the fine)…I had the car parked at home in Gothenburg for a long time and had still intended to get rid of it. But had not taken my time. It was time now, so I went ahead on selling the car and paying the fine.” – Andersson"

But Lias Andersson hasn’t used the time off to sit idle. Instead, he’s mentally going through the sequences from the stands, and he’s ready to get back to work.

"“I’m super hungry. You really notice how much you miss it when you are not allowed to join. But I have tried to see it positively, that I got to train a lot extra, and also become a little coach in the stands. You can sit and learn details from the stands.”"

The LA Kings intend to bring Andersson over to the team’s training camp, whenever that ends up being scheduled. But what remains to be determined is if he’ll return to Sweden if he doesn’t make the team. We recently pegged him as one of three players who could sneak onto the Opening Night roster. His 66 games of NHL experience should give him a leg up on the competition.

We look forward to seeing him soon.