Former first-round pick sells car to pay fine in Europe

It's been a rocky few years for Kings prospect Lias Andersson. As captain of Sweden at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, he threw his silver medal into the crowd following a tough loss to Canada in the gold medal game. Then in December 2019, it was reported that Andersson had formally requested a trade from the New York Rangers. A month following the request, the Rangers loaned Andersson to HV71 in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) where he has been ever since.

Now, Andersson has a new turn in his interesting career. Earlier this month, he was suspended five games for a dirty hit to the head of Lulea forward Jonas Berglund. He found a unique way to pay his fine of 80,000 Swedish krona.

Andersson sold his car. Yes, you read that correctly. According to Andersson, the car was just sitting in the driveway at his home in Gothenburg, Sweden, and he already had intentions of selling it for months, he mentioned in an interview with Swedish publication, Expressen.

"I actually sold my car and paid for it." "You're joking right?" the interviewer responded with. "No no. 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 plus / minus-zero on selling the car and paying the fine." Andersson said.

Andersson, 22, was drafted in the first round, seventh overall by the New York Rangers in the 2017 NHL entry draft. He was traded from New York to Los Angeles on October 7th in exchange for the 60th overall pick in the 2020 NHL entry draft.

In 66 NHL regular season games, Andersson has put up 9 points (3 G, 6 A), 33 penalty minutes, and is a -20. He's also spent a good chunk of time with the Rangers AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. In 74 games with Hartford, he had 39 points (15 G, 24 A), 47 penalty minutes, and was a -33.

Internationally, Andersson has represented Sweden on multiple occasions, most recently at the 2018 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championships. In 10 games, he had 2 points (1 G, 1 A), 4 penalty minutes, and was a +3 as Sweden won their 11th gold medal.

Hopefully this fresh start with the Kings is just what Andersson needs to excel in the NHL. He has a ton of talent, now he needs to prove why he was selected seventh overall, three years ago.

Lias Andersson sold his car and used the money to pay his fine from 5-game SHL suspension.

MORE @ https://t.co/UCfQY00iEj pic.twitter.com/mzQo9au8V8— BarDown (@BarDown) October 20, 2020

Source: TSN/Bardown

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