LAS VEGAS (KTNV) \u2014 As Rasmus Andersson settles into his new home with the Vegas Golden Knights, one longtime Calgary reporter believes the veteran defenseman brings far more than steady minutes on the blue line.<\/p>\n
Ryan Pike of FlamesNation, who covered Andersson throughout his decade with the Calgary Flames, described the 29-year-old as indispensable to the organization.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Flames insider says Rasmus Andersson gives Golden Knights a playoff-ready blue-line boost<\/p>\n
Flames insider says Rasmus Andersson gives Golden Knights a playoff-ready blue-line boost<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a word, gigantic,\u201d Pike said on his impact. \u201cHe was a huge part of the hockey club. He came up as a draft pick and ended up becoming arguably their most important defenseman of the last few years. Played over the boards in every game situation. He\u2019s a very impactful player and I think he\u2019s a player Golden Knights fans are going to enjoy watching.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Andersson is not known leaguewide for blazing speed, Pike said his effectiveness shows up in subtler ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not known for his speed or his skating, but he\u2019s sneaky good at jumping into the rush at the right times,\u201d Pike said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a really good shot, he\u2019s a really smart player, he\u2019s figured out what he\u2019s really good at, and the things he should avoid doing. He\u2019s a player that doesn\u2019t get into trouble on the ice because he\u2019s smart enough to know what he\u2019s not great at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Off the ice, Pike said Andersson was equally memorable, especially among reporters and teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s definitely someone those of us in the media will have memories of,\u201d Pike said. \u201cHe never gave a boring answer, you always knew what you were going to get. That honesty earned him a lot of credit in the locker room and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Andersson transitions from Calgary to Vegas, Pike expects some adjustments but believes the Golden Knights\u2019 system under coach Bruce Cassidy could unlock more creativity in his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s going to be some growing pains,\u201d Pike said. \u201cHe\u2019s going from the Flames system which was reliant on structured forecheck, there\u2019s no room for freelancing. With Vegas you have the ability to be more creative within Bruce Cassidy\u2019s structure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike added that Andersson\u2019s instinct to attack could thrive in that environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who likes jumping into the rush, who likes getting below the goal line sometimes, having the chance to freelance a bit and be a bit more creative than he was in Calgary I think will really suit him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to the postseason, Pike believes Andersson\u2019s edge and situational awareness are what should excite Vegas fans most.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to score some big goals for them,\u201d Pike said. \u201cHe has that sixth sense, that ability to know when to try to make a big play, and when to be a little bit more cautious, especially down the stretch, especially in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the type of guy that he\u2019ll get fired up and he\u2019ll get the team fired up and by extension the fans as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS (KTNV) \u2014 As Rasmus Andersson settles into his new home with the Vegas Golden Knights, one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5129],"tags":[3504,3505,3506,149,5317,5,3507,3508,3509,3510,3511,285,4,3512,74,39,5316],"class_list":{"0":"post-435375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vegas-golden-knights","8":"tag-13-action-news","9":"tag-channel-13","10":"tag-go-knights-go","11":"tag-golden-knights","12":"tag-goldenknights","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-hockey-in-las-vegas","15":"tag-hockey-in-vegas","16":"tag-ktnv-tv-channel-13","17":"tag-las-vegas-hockey","18":"tag-las-vegas-sports","19":"tag-national-hockey-league","20":"tag-nhl","21":"tag-nhl-in-las-vegas","22":"tag-vegas","23":"tag-vegas-golden-knights","24":"tag-vegasgoldenknights"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115981666657805765","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}