Rasmus Andersson, a core member of the Calgary Flames for the last seven and a half seasons, appears to be on his way out.
Various insiders are reporting that trade talks are intensifying. Local credentialed media members are starting to publish goodbye articles before Calgary’s top scoring defenceman before the shoe has officially dropped. Things do not look good for those hoping for a contract extension for the pending UFA.
“The only thing I would just say that I’ve heard new and I kind of heard this a little bit on Sunday,” reflected Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman in a Jan. 12 episode of 32 Thoughts: the Podcast. “Is that it does seem like Calgary is getting a little bit more aggressive in trying to do something. You know, I think it sounds like there’s a desire for them to do it before the Olympics, and teams know that.”
Fresh off a goal-and-fight performance in a 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, the 29-year-old defenceman has ten goals and 19 assists for 29 points in 43 games this season. The Malmo, Sweden product recorded 57 goals and 203 assists for 260 points in 582 regular season games with the Flames. In 27 playoff games, the six-foot blue liner recorded seven goals and seven assists for 14 points.
Set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, the final season of Andersson’s six-year $27,300,000 contract carries an annual average value of $4,550,000.
“The noise is definitely picked up,” concluded Friedman. “And, obviously, there’s been a lot of interest in Anderson in the past, the Kings have it, and I still think Vegas is looking for another defenceman.”
Boston insider Jimmy Murphy reported on Wednesday in an article for RG Media that he had heard from sources that the Bruins were discussing a trade involving 24 year old left-shot defenceman Mason Lohrei as well as their own (not Toronto’s) 2026 first round pick. Most assume that such a valuable return would require a contract extension agreed to with his new team.
Other rumoured destinations include Detroit, Dallas, Ottawa, Anaheim, Utah, Toronto and Florida.
The Return
Let’s start with what the 2015 second-round draft selection might fetch. We have a bit to work with from a Dec. 20 written edition of 32 Thoughts.
“The Flames were looking for a first-rounder and a good prospect for him last season. Back then, he wasn’t a rental, so we’ll see if the market’s changed.”
Matching with that. The rumour in the new year has been that the offer Detroit has tabled is Nate Danielson and a 2027 first round pick. Take that with a grain of salt, given that no insider has confirmed anything related to Andersson going to the Red Wings.
In terms of precedent, it’s safe to assume that the Malmo, Sweden product brings back less than Quinn Hughes (Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren, defenseman Zeev Buium and a 1st-round pick in 2026) and more than Jake Walman (undrafted Carl Berglund and a conditional 2026 first round pick).
A first round pick and an exciting younger player seems fair in terms of what he might fetch. Having watched him since his time with the Barrie Colts of the OHL, let’s break down what a team will be acquiring in Rasmus Andersson.
Two-Way Force
There is a strong case to be made that Andersson is playing the best hockey of his career to date.
Rasmus’ bread and butter in the offensive zone is his booming slap shot from the point, as well as his ability to pinch low for a tight in-goal sequence. He’s calm on the high cycle and has no issue keeping a high-tempo play alive.
Rasmus Andersson 2025-26 goal locations graphic courtesy of NHL EDGE.
In his own end, Andersson works a relentless transition; however, he has a nasty habit of slowing down breakouts too often. On a high-end offence, Rasmus has proven he can feed a quick stretch pass when given proper moving targets.
Currently projecting an 18-goal, 34 assist season for 54 points, that mark tops even his 2021-22 campaign where Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk formed the best two-way forward unit in the NHL. Paired with the smooth skating Noah Hanifin, Andersson racked up four goals and 46 assists for 50 points.
The fact that Andersson is on pace to break his personal best with a far less supporting offensive talent on the roster says quite a bit. Just 46 games into the season, Andersson is one goal short of tying his career high of 11 goals.
14 of Rasmus Andersson’s 19 assists on the year have been primary assists. The majority of his points have been within two touches of the puck going into the net. In games where the rest of the Flames offence hasn’t shown up, Andersson has found himself the difference-maker. The chippy defenceman leads the Flames with six goals in their 23 losses on the year.
While the Flames may have lost their comeback identity so far in 2025-26, you can’t blame Ras. So often, one of his pinches serves as a rally point, even if the rest of the team (Blake Coleman & Mikael Backlund aside) hasn’t been up to the challenge.
Facing a lost season following a 2-8-2 October, Andersson led the charge posting three goals and 11 assists for 14 points in 15 November games. Good for first place in team scoring on the month. The Flames flipped the script, going 7-6-2.
While scoring less, Andersson kept the attack going in December as the rest of the offence started to heat up. His three goals and five assists for eight points ranked second-place among defencemen on the team behind MacKenzie Weegar’s nine points. More importantly, the team had built momentum. Going 9-4-0 in the final month of the year to claw back to .500, we’re looking at a 32nd-place team if Andersson hadn’t carried the offence in November.
Things have slowed down again as the Flames have entered the new year. 1-5-0 in January, Calgary appears to be waiting for their current 5-game road trip to simply be over and done with. The team is exhausted after two months of outworking the opposition.
Most recently, the veteran defenceman nearly dragged the Flames to overtime with a power play goal and a timely scrap against Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner.
You may be saying to yourself: Those aren’t huge numbers. Flirting with a point-per-game at his best isn’t that great.
The Flames are a desert of offence this season. Their 2.54 goals per game ranks 31st. So many nights, Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman have carried the water offensively among the forwards. Outside of a few hot stretches where they reached their B-game, Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau have been non-factors. Andersson also works on a pairing with defensive defenceman Kevin Bahl.
Unlike other years where the Flames have had Johnny Gaudreau, Tyler Toffoli, and a loaded transition-savvy blue line, it’s up to Rasmus Andersson to generate from either the blue line or with a timely cut down low.
Defence
OK. Rasmus can produce. He’s a proven difference-maker on a team that struggles to make a difference.
Defensively? The former Barrie Colt ranks second among defencemen with a neutral 0 plus/minus rating. Only his defence partner Kevin Bahl is ahead of him at +8.
Andersson had issues defending last season. He was confirmed to be playing through a few lower body injuries. His third-worst -38 plus/minus rating was largely due to an inability to defend the front of the net as well an inability to shut down plays on the wall.
This season, we have seen a full bounce back, but there are some team-wide caveats.
The Flames have some brutal trends surrounding them. Their defining issue is how the team performs when they’re at the Scotiabank Saddledome versus when they’re on the road. At home, they’re a playoff worthy 12-7-2. A .619 points percentage.
In games outside of Calgary? Tuesday’s loss puts the Flames at 7-16-2. .320.
If you’re interested, here is further analysis on why the Flames struggle on the road, but Rasmus Andersson is no different. His metrics are misleadingly solid for how brutal Calgary plays in away games.
Expected Goals – Rasmus Andersson
Home
For: 16.63
Against: 16.79
Percentage: 49.77%
Away
For: 16.44
Against: 20.51
Percentage: 44.74
We see that the expected goals tell a bit of a different story than what the home & away record is telling us. Despite the 5v5 expected goals being relatively similar across the board, Andersson is a -13 on the road and a +13 at home.
Discipline, anemic transition, and a massive variance in goaltending ends up turning those somewhat skewed metrics into analytic chaos. We end up getting this weird body of stats where everything needs to be divided into categories because the Flames are simply bad at showing up on the road.
The Eye Test
We don’t need to spend all day on what an analytic enigma the Flames are. As only one of five players on the ice at any given moment, Andersson follows the team into whatever trends they head towards.
From actually watching games, an acquiring team is getting a sound defender who manages gaps well both off the rush and in his own zone. He’s fully adapted to a zone defence after bouncing back from a rough season last year where he blocked far too many shots.
Rasmus is a member of Calgary’s Core Seven, a group of veterans that set expectations on preparation and sacrifice and hold the team accountable when they aren’t met.
He’s Calgary’s best defenceman and has proven more than once that he is willing to play through even broken bones to be there for his teammates.
Andersson is a top-tier chirper, a leader in the community, and will be greatly missed in Calgary both on and off the ice if he gets traded to a new team.
The Flames conclude their five-game road trip in Chicago on Thursday. So far, they’re 1-3-0. Whether Calgary’s most reliable defender will still be on the team remains unclear. One certainty is that the Calgary Flames will lose a great human being and hockey player if they end up pulling the trigger on a deal involving Rasmus Andersson.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, Money Puck, Cap Wages, and the National Hockey League.
KEEP READING:
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