Source: Stars, Leafs, And Lightning Still Pursuing Rasmus Andersson
The Calgary Flames and defenseman Rasmus Andersson have agreed to enter the season without a contract extension for Andersson or without a trade request from Andersson.
“I will never close any doors in Calgary; it’s always gonna be open,” the 28-year-old right-shot defenseman, who is entering the final year of a six-year, $27.3 million ($4.55M AAV), told Sportsnet recently.
“There’s a lot of stuff that happened this summer off the ice that I think is between me, ‘Connie’ (Flames general manager Craig Conroy), and Don [Maloney] (Flames President of Hockey Operations). If I really wanted to, I wouldn’t have been here, right? So, I love my time here, and I always have.”
However, while things may be as harmonious as they can be between Andersson and the Flames right now, that is not stopping potential NHL trade suitors from inquiring what it will take to acquire a player that many NHL insiders believe won’t finish this season with the Flames.
“Craig is still getting plenty of calls, and he’s doing what he has to do in his position,” an NHL source told R.org Sports recently.
“He’s not closing the door because of where the Flames are right now in their rebuild or retool – whatever you want to call it – and the parity in the league. What if he keeps him and they have an awesome start? Maybe Andersson says, ‘You know what? We’re getting better faster than I thought we would.’
But, maybe by American Thanksgiving or even the Olympic break, that’s not the case, and both sides say, ‘Let’s do a trade’’ and the Flames move him.”
Another NHL source in Calgary confirmed that not only are the Flames still taking calls from teams on Andersson’s NHL trade availability, but also told R.org of three teams that are continuing to keep tabs on Andersson, who had 11 goals and 20 assists in 81 games last season.
“The Dallas Stars are still very interested,” the source told R.org.
“If there’s still one thing Jim [Nill] (Stars GM) still covets more than anything, it’s a top right-shot d-man. He is hell bent on that, and he’s been keeping tabs on Andersson since before the last trade deadline.”
Then you have the Leafs, the Lightning. …and I know you reported before, the Red Wings, Blue Jackets, and Bruins around the draft. I don’t know how much those teams are still pushing, but they all make a ton of sense, too.”
RG reported on June 25, amidst the traditional onslaught of NHL trade chatter leading into the NHL Entry Draft, that the Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, and Ottawa Senators all had expressed NHL Trade interest in Andersson at the time. The Canadiens wound up acquiring their right-shot defenseman in Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders, and the Senators acquired right-shot defenseman Jordan Spence from the Los Angeles Kings.
It was also widely reported that the Vegas Golden Knights and the Flames had a deal in place for Andersson this past offseason, but it fell through. When asked about the Knights now, this source could not confirm if talks on Andersson had reignited with the Flames.
“They definitely did, but I’m not sure if they’ve circled back since then, but it would make sense considering what the Knights’ right side looks like right now,” the second source told R.org on Thursday night.