Young forward facing uncertain future as Rangers get healthy

TAMPA, Fla. — The Rangers haven’t had their full complement of forwards since Nov. 14 against the Sabres, 15 games ago. And while Cody McLeod (broken hand) will still be sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Blueshirts will be as healthy up-front as they have been for a month when Mats Zuccarello (groin) and Pavel Buchnevich (broken thumb) rejoin the lineup, probably as soon as Friday against the Coyotes at the Garden.

That will trigger management discussions and personnel decisions, with the most noteworthy concerning the status of Lias Andersson, who seems to be destined for a fourth-line role and corresponding limited minutes if he remains with the varsity.

As it has been since training camp, the question general manager Jeff Gorton and his staff will confront is whether it is more beneficial for the 20-year-old to get fewer minutes in the NHL or major minutes down below in Hartford.

“We’re assessing that all of the time, and not just with Lias, but all of our young guys,” Gorton told The Post as the Rangers practiced here on Sunday in advance of Monday’s match against the powerhouse Lightning. “But when we are healthy, we will have conversations about where we’re at, and what’s best for him and the team.

“I think overall he’s been effective for us and has helped us. I’m sure he’d like to figure more in the offense, but he’s progressing and he’s playing the right way. I think he’s been pretty good.”

Andersson has recorded a goal and two assists through 15 games while averaging 10:53 of ice time, including seven in which he’s gotten less than 10:00. He has played two games as a top-six winger, three games as a third-line winger, one game as a third-line center, one game as a fourth-line winger and eight as the Blueshirts’ fourth-line center.

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“The games where I’ve gotten a lot of ice, I feel I’ve played well,” Andersson said. “I’ve been moving from wing to center and from line to line, so that has been an adjustment, but I feel that I’m learning and developing as a player.

“I’ve seen guys sit and be buried on the fourth line, but that’s not how I feel about my experience here. I want to keep improving my offensive game. I want to be an offensive player in this league on a top-two line.”

So much of Andersson’s game has been as advertised. He competes like crazy and never takes a shift off. He is fundamentally strong, displays excellent hockey IQ and is tough to play against. In limited opportunities, however, he has not yet displayed above-average skills with the puck. Plus, there is no vacancy in the middle on the club’s top two lines.

Whether and how this will factor into the equation regarding extending or trading Kevin Hayes — which is only shaping up as the most significant decision of Gorton’s three-plus year tenure as GM — is yet unknown. But if the Rangers maintain their one-two rotation down the middle featuring Hayes and Mika Zibanejad, Andersson’s route to a top-six role at his natural position — much like Filip Chytil — becomes far more challenging.

“I’m just trying to do what I can every day, working at practice on my shot and puck movement and keeping up my offense,” said Andersson, who is likely to again skate between Matt Beleskey and Steven Fogarty against the Lightning. “The coach [David Quinn] wants us to play fast and hard and move the puck quickly and work hard to retrieve it, so that’s what I’m doing. I feel like I’m learning a lot.”

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Andersson is No. 50 on your lineup card, but the number most attached to him is 7. The Rangers selected him at that slot in 2017, a pick they acquired from Arizona with Tony DeAngelo in exchange for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta, but Gorton insisted the organization does not view him through that prism.

“We can’t think that way, and we don’t,” Gorton said. “We’re treating Lias like a very good prospect with a very bright future. We’re working to develop him as a 200-foot player who’s going to be a New York Ranger for a long time.

“His draft position isn’t part of it. Where he was picked is somewhat irrelevant.”

The future lays ahead of Andersson. So does the present, uncertain though it may be, and at least partially because of circumstances out of his control.

“I leave the decisions to the organization,” Andersson said. “But if I can get fourth-line minutes here, I’ll take that anytime.”