Flames Listening To Offers For Rasmus Andersson, Nazem Kadri, MacKenzie Weegar

After selling off a good chunk of their core over the last 12 months, the Flames are still fully in retool mode. General manager Craig Conroy continues to listen to trade inquiries regarding defensemen Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar, as well as center Nazem Kadri, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

Calgary has been exploring the market for Kadri as far back as June, Pagnotta said. They’ve been less aggressive regarding Andersson and Weegar. Julian McKenzie of The Athletic said last month that it would take a huge offer to pry Andersson away from the Flames, and there haven’t been many recent trade winds blowing in Weegar’s direction until now.

All three have control over their destinies to some degree. Kadri has a full no-movement clause through 2026, Weegar has a full no-trade clause, while Andersson has the most negligible influence with a six-team no-trade list.

Andersson could have the highest trade value if Conroy wants to kickstart a complete teardown in Calgary. The right-shot defenseman is entirely in his prime, turns 28 in October, and has two seasons left on his contract at a highly affordable $4.55MM cap hit. The Swede has put up 138 points in 239 games over the past three seasons, a 47-point pace over 82 games. After beginning his career in a bottom-pairing role, he’s routinely shouldered over 22 minutes per game in recent years with decent possession metrics.

Kadri’s contract could be a bit of an albatross in trade talks. He has five years left on the seven-year, $49MM pact he signed in Calgary in free agency in 2022, and few teams for which a Kadri pickup makes sense can stomach an incoming $7MM cap hit.

But if he can keep up last season’s pace, he’s worth the price of admission. While it was clear his 87-point platform campaign with the Avalanche in 2021-22 would be a one-hit wonder given his long history as a middle-of-the-lineup talent, he’s still produced above his previous career averages since joining the Flames. Last season was a strong one for Kadri, who led Calgary in scoring by a significant margin with 75 points in 82 games. He’s also displayed durability as he enters his mid-30s, playing in all 164 regular-season contests over the past two years.

He would be willing to waive his NMC “for the right environment,” Pagnotta said, which would likely be a return to the Eastern Conference. Kadri spent the first 10 years of his NHL career with the Maple Leafs before they traded him to Colorado in 2019.

Weegar is the best player of the three and sits as Calgary’s undisputed No. 1 defenseman after exploding for a career-high 20 goals and 52 points last season. Despite that production and continued team-best possession metrics, he’s flown under the radar after receiving outside Norris Trophy consideration during some lesser offensive performance while with the Panthers a few years back.

He has six more years left on his deal at a $6.25MM cap hit, a strong value proposition for a bonafide top-pairing defender. While a right shot, he can also play the left side comfortably. He’s also incredibly involved physically – his 194 hits were second on the Flames last year behind Martin Pospisil’s 238. The Blues had some outside interest in Weegar around the draft, Pagnotta said, but a trade was never close.