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Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson
To his teammates, it’s become painfully clear: the Calgary Flames will be trading defenseman Rasmus Andersson.
As for the “where” and the “when,” that remains less clear. But in the opinion of Flames captain Mikael Backlund, there is no question that Andersson will be wearing a different sweater before the 2025-26 season ends.
“Yeah, he’s getting traded,” Backlund recently lamented. “It’s obvious.”
Speaking to journalists as part of the recent European Player Media Tour in Milan to promote the participation of NHL players in the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, Backlund talked about the unfortunate situation involving the 28-year-old Andersson, who is entering the final season of his six-year, $27.3 million contract. Scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the upcoming seasons ends, Andersson is in search of a big payday that appears highly unlikely to come from the Flames.
“It’s too bad it’s come to this,” Backlund said. “I don’t think that they’re close to getting an agreement or anything, but you never know. Things could change. We’ll see.”
Flames Captain Mikael Backlund Laments Likelihood of Team Trading Rasmus Andersson
There are several teams that would jump at the chance to add a player like Andersson, who enjoys limited no-trade protection, with Detroit, Tampa and Columbus among the potential landing spots. But the team that may ultimately benefit from the uncomfortable situation in Calgary could be the Vegas Golden Knights, due in part to the presence on their roster of Andersson’s long-time teammate Noah Hanifin.
For the immediate future, the Flames do not have to do anything with Andersson except write his name in the lineup and know exactly what they are getting.
With a cap hit of $4.55 million, Andersson brings tremendous value, a top-four defenseman who has played in 376 of a possible 384 games over the past five seasons, averaging nearly 24 minutes of ice time in the last three. Last year was a bit of a disappointment for him offensively, but Andersson still managed to score 11 goals, and he has reached the 30-assist mark in three separate seasons, with a career-high of 46 in 2021-22.
“The Calgary Flames, I believe, are totally content on starting the season with Rasmus Andersson,” NHL insider Frank Seravalli said on his latest “NHL Insider Notebook” for Bleacher Report.
That doesn’t mean it would be the ideal situation for the Flames, Seravalli added, suggesting that the longer Calgary hangs on to Andersson, the more it “kind of puts them in a little bit of a dangerous spot.” For a team that remained in the playoff hunt all the way until the final day of the 2024-25 season, making a similar run this season with Andersson filling his usual role could become a PR disaster around the trade deadline.
Would the Flames front office risk a fan revolt by removing one of their top defensemen from the lineup? Of course, the flip side means running the significantly high risk of losing Andersson for nothing when the season ends.
“Let’s just create a hypothetical here. Let’s say the Flames are, it’s mid-February, the Flames haven’t traded Rasmus Anderson yet, and they are three points out of a playoff spot. Or let’s say they’re even in a playoff spot,” Seravalli wondered. “Are they really going to be able to cut the legs out from under their team in that exact moment in time? I know everyone says, ‘Oh yeah, the plan is the plan and we’re going to stick to it.’ But I think it creates an interesting dynamic heading into the season, and obviously it’s going to be a talking point, since it’s August 22nd and we’re talking about Rasmus Anderson still being a member of the Calgary Flames.”
Vegas Could Emerge as Ultimate Destination for Calgary Defenseman Rasmus Andersson
From a pure roster standpoint, trading for Andersson makes a lot of sense for Vegas. The loss of Alex Pietrangelo for at least this season, if not longer, with severe hip issues opens a top-four spot that would be filled nicely by Andersson.
As for salary concerns, even with Andersson at his current value, the Golden Knights would need to do a bit of chair swapping to become salary cap compliant. But if there’s one thing that Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon has proven capable of doing over the past few seasons, it’s finding ways to tap dance around the financial barriers.
In the end, Vegas may just be the “obvious” answer.
Dave Benson is a veteran writer with over three decades of journalism experience covering sports primarily in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Dave is also a licensed English teacher and spent several years teaching at the middle school level. More about Dave Benson
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