The Boston Bruins were preparing to send the Calgary Flames quite the haul for defenceman Rasmus Andersson.

In the days prior to Andersson being traded, it had sounded like the Bruins were the frontrunners. The issue came down to the fact that the 29-year-old was hesitant about signing any sort of extension, something the Bruins needed to happen before pulling the trigger on a deal.

Andersson, who was uncomfortable signing an extension anywhere, was instead traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for defenceman Zach Whitecloud, a 2027 first-round pick, a conditional 2028 second-round pick, and blueline prospect Abram Wiebe.

There had been plenty of speculation that the Bruins, had Andersson agreed to an extension, had a bigger package on the table. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman seems to have the same idea.

“The belief is that it was [Mason] Lohrei and a 2027 first, I think, and maybe more,” Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast. “People kind of know that Boston had this out there.”

Friedman also explained that Andersson’s decision not to sign an extension came very shortly before he was dealt to the Golden Knights.

“The Boston Bruins believed they could get a deal done with the Flames, and there would be an extension,” Friedman explained. “Everything changed on Sunday morning. Andersson’s representative, Claude Lemieux, from what I heard, called the Flames and said that we are willing to go to Boston, but we are not willing to do an extension. We won’t be doing an extension anywhere right now.”

Though many Flames fans were hoping to see Lohrei head to Calgary, they by no means landed a poor package from the Golden Knights. In fact, Friedman speculated that should the Flames wish to do so, there would be plenty of time to check in on Whitecloud’s availability heading into the trade deadline.

With other names such as Blake Coleman and Nazem Kadri being discussed, the Flames should continue to dominate headlines as the March 6 trade deadline inches closer.

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