Browsing: Openers

On the Love Hockey podcast (1:20:44), NHL insider David Pagnotta reported that Rasmus Andersson’s future in Calgary is uncertain, noting that the star defenseman may not be “gung ho” about staying, or he would have signed an extension by now.

He added that the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights are “his two top teams that he would like to go to” and reiterated that there was a trade in place to send him to the Los Angeles Kings pending an extension and “he didn’t want to go there.”

Andersson is a free agent after this season, making it imperative that Flames management either convinces him to buy-in and sign the extension or finds a trade partner. He is unlikely to be moved before the season but a deadline deal is not out of the question in the new year.

His consistency makes him invaluable to Calgary but if he is disgruntled and does not want to be there, it would behoove the organization to find a team that is willing to take him on, and sign him to a long-term deal, and collect whatever it can in return.

The 28-year-old still has plenty of prime hockey left in him and is coming off a season in which he played all 81 games, scored 11 goals and tallied 20 assists. He was on the ice for just shy of 24 minutes each game.

Either Dallas or Vegas, in pursuit of their latest Stanley Cup, would be ecstatic to welcome a player of his stature to the team for the right price. What Calgary is ultimately willing to let him go for will likely determine whether he gets his wish to play for one of those two franchises or guts it out with the Flames before hitting free agency next year, giving his current team nothing in return for his services.

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