Hockey teams don’t typically get better by trading their best player.
So what exactly does that mean for the Calgary Flames after they traded Rasmus Andersson?
Getting an established NHL defenceman in Zach Whitecloud should help ease the short-term pain a bit, but there’s little doubt that Andersson is going to be missed.
And the Flames already had the fifth fewest points in the NHL heading into Monday’s game against the New Jersey Devils. If losing Andersson makes them worse, does that equate to management throwing in the towel this season and focusing on positioning the team to get the best lottery pick possible in June’s NHL Entry Draft?
“No, I don’t think they’re throwing in the towel, at all,” Flames blueliner MacKenzie Weegar said. “I don’t think the towel’s thrown in. It’s a piece that didn’t want to stay at the end of the day. (Andersson) wanted to go on to somewhere else with a better opportunity, that he thinks, so (Flames GM Craig Conroy) and the organization had to do something.
“I don’t think they threw in the towel. I think the return is great and, in the back of your mind, you definitely want him to re-sign and hopefully that they (could) get a deal done with Ras, that’s what his teammates all would have wanted, but I think they did what they had to do.”
That’s not up for debate. Signing the 29-year-old Andersson to a long-term contract didn’t align with the window of contention the Flames are looking to build.
By the time young prospects like Zayne Parekh, Hunter Brzustewicz, Cole Reschny and others are reaching their peak, Andersson would have been past his prime.
It just made the most sense to move him.
What will happen for rest of the season?
What it means short-term for the Flames, though, is that the rest of the season could be challenging.
Andersson was a leader in the locker room, but his contributions go well beyond that. He led the team in ice-time this season and, even as a blueliner, he was second in points (30) and fourth in goals (10) while leading the team in shorthanded ice-time and being their top power-play defenceman.
None of that is easy to replace. It might not even be possible.
The guys in the Flames locker room have no choice but to try, though.
“We’re going to miss Ras, he was playing great for us this year up-and-down the ice, both ways he was really solid and played with a lot of energy and swagger,” said Flames captain Mikael Backlund, who had Andersson and his family over for dinner on Sunday night after the trade was announced.
“We know we’ve got Whitecloud coming in and he’s gonna bring his game here and he’s been a really solid player for Vegas for a lot of years. We’re going to miss Razzy, but we know in here we’re going to still keep fighting and keep grinding and keep pushing for a playoff spot.”
There are lots of hockey fans in Calgary who would be more than happy to see the Flames solidify their place near the bottom of the standings and secure the best draft position possible.
Management has been clear that they won’t actively tank, but trading Andersson can at least be taken as a signal that they’re prioritizing the future. They got a 2027 first-round draft pick and a 2028 second-rounder that gets upgraded to a first if the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup this season, as well as the rights to college prospect Abram Wiebe.
All of that will help in a couple years and should contribute to a wealth of young talent that the Flames already have started building over the past couple of seasons. The future should be bright.
Which young players will get a chance?
And that future starts now. Brzustewicz, only 21-years-old, should be getting a lot more power-play time now that Andersson has been moved. Parekh also should see more playing time once he returns from his two-week conditioning stint in the AHL with the Calgary Wranglers.
“We’re going to need some of these young guns to definitely step into that role and try to step into that power play, whatever it is,” Flames defenceman Kevin Bahl said. “Offensively, we want a couple more five-on-five points. (Andersson) had around 30, so that’s a big hole to fill.
“There’s an opportunity for a lot of guys around here and I think that should be an exciting challenge, especially for the two young defencemen.”
Related
Whitecloud shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought here, either. He was third in shorthanded ice-time per game for the Golden Knights before the trade and should be able to take on a lot of Andersson’s minutes when the Flames are down a man. He has 368 games of NHL experience and won the Stanley Cup with Vegas in 2023.
“We’re also replacing him with a solid NHL player, so I think it gives opportunity to other players,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said. “MacKenzie Weegar is an example of that where now he has a chance to elevate his game.
“It gives opportunities to some younger guys to show they belong, but I also think the look of our backend is significantly different in regards to what it looked like prior to where we have some size now. (Yan Kuznetsov) has developed and come along for us, but now we have another guy who is a harder guy to play against. That will help our checking, our defending, however you want to put it. I think he’s going to be a really good add for our team.”