As the 2023-24 campaign ended, there was no shortage of discussion on what the Calgary Flames should do with one of their homegrown talents, as the team was staring directly into the face of a rebuild. Since becoming a full-time NHLer in the 2018-19 season after being drafted by the Flames in the 2015, defenseman Rasmus Andersson certainly has had a huge impact on the team and the fanbase, becoming one of the faces of the franchise and even earning an ‘A’ on his jersey being named an alternate captain before the 2023-24 season. Of course, he’s also incorporated his signature stare, which hasn’t hurt his popularity in Calgary.
Despite his popularity, there was no shortage of conjecture last summer around the possibility of maximizing the return of a player on a VERY cap friendly deal at the trade deadline in 24-25, seeing as the team was unlikely to be very competitive and a versatile D man like Rasmus would be a pretty tempting morsel for other teams looking to bolster their blueline, not just for the 25 playoffs, but having him signed through ’26 as well. His current six-year deal, which expires after next season, carries a VERY desirable 4.55M cap hit that a lot of teams would happily absorb.
Of course, this last season (thankfully) didn’t align to the expectations of “team tank” and the idea of parting with one of their top d-men at the deadline for a team in the midst of a playoff chase was ludicrous and Rasmus proved to be a warrior for his team, even playing the final 12 contests with a broken fibula. Now, as an aside, we could argue at length whether this was more helpful or a hindrance in hindsight, but it can’t be overstated how badly Rasmus wanted to do whatever he could to try to help propel his team into the playoffs, and that kind of heart can’t be easily replaced.
In all, Rasmus suited up for 81 games this season and finished with a mostly respectable statline, netting 11 goals along with 20 assists for 31 points. The goals total matched his career high set in 22-23, but the point total was 19 short of the 50 he earned in 21-22.
There was, however, one glaring flag on his statsline… He was a team worst -38 for the season… And, unfortunately, he was even an outlier on his own team as the next closest Flame (Kadri) was “only” -17. League-wide, that -38 was “ahead” of only 2 players… Mason Lohrei of Boston finished at -43, and Tyler Bertuzzi finished at -39. Although it’s true that Rasmus played a lot of hard minutes and high-pressure situations and was second on the team in average ice time at 23:59, it’s quite the foil to see that MacKenzie Weeger, who led the team at 24:10, also led the team in +/- at +18.
The contributions of Rasmus also go outside of just the statistics as he’s a leader both in and out of the room which was a big factor in the Flames, as a team, ignoring the white noise of the fans and media and making a valiant effort to make a playoff push falling just a tie-breaker short of earning a spot.
As it stands, Rasmus is about to enter the final year of his current contract. It should also be noted that the Flames have some highly touted D men already in the system who could make the jump next season. Players like Zayne Parekh, who the Flames drafted last season and who this season (thanks to him being left off on Team Canada at the World Juniors, but that’s a topic for another day) became the ONLY defenseman not named Bobby Orr to record 30-plus goals in multiple seasons.
Also in the system waiting for their shot are a few AHL defenceman, notably Hunter Brzutewicz who had 5 goals and 32 points in his first pro season with the Wranglers and even managed to make his Flames debut, and Jeremie Poirier, a slightly more seasoned dman drafted in 2020 who also had 5 goals and totaled 42 points for those same Wranglers this past season.
It can’t be denied that Rasmus is a leader. He’s also stated his desire to be a Flame moving forward and to be part of the solution. He showed he CAN be part of that solution. He’s also getting up in age (28) so an extension would start in his age 30 season, which isn’t desirable for a team looking to the future. Although many like to speculate about what a signed player for a whole season is worth to a potential acquiring team, what is his actual value in a trade at this point?
I would assume the return would be fairly substantial as he’ll be 29 and on a team-friendly salary, but sometimes strange things happen in deals. Does he become worth more as a trade deal next season? Will he even become available if the Flames are making a push next deadline? Does he get more/less expensive on an extension depending on how next season plays out? So I ask you this: What should the Flames do with Rasmus Andersson? Trade/Extend/Delay: That is the question.
