The great Donald Sutherland, one of my favorite actors, once said about the conspiracy in the movie JFK, “it’s as old as the crucifixion.” Well, there is another thing as old as the crucifixion: using the Toronto Maple Leafs in a trade rumor to increase chatter about a particular player. In this case, the player in question is Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson.
The 29-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent, and after the trade of Quinn Hughes to Minnesota last week, Andersson could be the next shoe to drop for teams seeking a top-four, right-handed defenseman. Does interest on the part of Toronto make sense? Obviously, since Leafs GM Brad Treliving drafted the Swedish blueliner in 2015. He has been interested in most of the Flames players who played under him before joining Toronto in 2023.
Treliving was interested in defensemen Nikita Zadorov and Chris Tanev when they were in the final year of their deals, to the point that reportedly the Leafs GM tried to trade for both in the same deal, but Calgary GM Craig Conroy’s asking price was considerably more from his former boss than he ended up getting from Vancouver (a 3rd and 5th) for Zadorov, and from Dallas (defensive prospect Artem Grushnikov, and the Stars 2024 2nd-round pick) for Tanev.
There is no reason to believe that would not be the case this time around for Andersson. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Toronto indicated that the Leafs tried to deal for the righty at the deadline last season and that Toronto would be one of a number of places where he would sign an extension. There have been rumors back in the summer that the Vegas Golden Knights have coveted him as a potential replacement for the injured Alex Pietrangelo, and other contenders like Edmonton, Dallas, and Carolina would be as well.
There is little doubt of LeBrun’s sources, and the likelihood of Treliving expressing interest is high, because he apparently talks to other GMs on a regular basis, but the current state of the Leafs in the standings and the lack of draft capital limits what they could offer. Trading a youngster like Easton Cowan or Ben Danford would further deplete the Leafs cophers and would be a calamitous mistake. What could make sense is trading Brandon Carlo, who is the same age as Andersson.
These rumors could simply be Calgary floating a Toronto trade possibility through the media to raise the eyebrows of other interested clubs with the NHL holiday trade freeze dropping on Friday night and lasting until the 27th, but this potential deal is a longshot at best. Wherever Andersson ends up, he will likely extend with them as former Flame Noah Hanifin did after being swapped to Vegas, but if he does not, Treliving and the Leafs would likely pursue him as they did with Tanev in the summer of 2024.
Other Trade Chatter
On the Athletic’s updated Trade Board, two Maple Leafs were listed as potential targets. Winger Matias Maccelli (who has been a healthy scratch most of December and is clerly not a fit for Berube’s system), and Carlo (who is under contract for another year at $3.485 million and is expected to be back from a foot injury in early January). There have been reports that there is some interest in the 25-year-old winger, but it would be surprising if the Leafs could recoup the third-round pick they swapped to Utah for the winger.
