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Rasmus Andersson

Flames Unwilling To Move Rasmus Andersson, Interested In Dylan Cozens

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The Flames have “no interest” in trading star defenseman Rasmus Andersson ahead of the March 7 deadline as things stand, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports Wednesday. LeBrun adds that they’re also “among the very long list of teams that have checked in” with the Sabres about trading for center Dylan Cozens.

Calgary general manager Craig Conroy has continued to receive calls on the 28-year-old Andersson, who is in the fifth season of a six-year, $27.3MM contract. According to a report from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, they listened earnestly to those offers over the summer but had set a high threshold for a return price that other teams didn’t meet.

With the Flames still holding onto a playoff spot in the Western Conference past the halfway point of the season, Conroy has been shutting down those inquiries entirely. He’s “even talked to Andersson recently to make sure he knows the trade speculation is not real,” LeBrun wrote.

Their optimism about agreeing on an extension with Andersson this summer likely factors into their unwillingness to discuss trade options. Andersson told Eric Francis of Sportsnet over the weekend that he prefers to stay in Calgary for the long term. So, assuming Conroy is willing to pay market value for the righty, there shouldn’t be many issues in getting a deal done.

It’s been a somewhat slow campaign offensively for Andersson, whose 18 points through 42 games is his worst pace (0.43) since his 0.38 points per game in the 2020-21 season. Nonetheless, he’s averaging a career-high 24:21 per game and leads the club with 105 blocked shots.

Unfortunately, his defensive play has lapsed slightly with the increase in usage. His 3.0 on-ice goals against per 60 minutes at even strength is tied with Tyson Barrie for worst on the team among defenders, and his 49.3% share of shot attempts at EV play is the lowest of his nine-year career.

Nonetheless, he’s a core piece on a Calgary blue line that’s seen a lot of turnover as part of a roster retool over the past couple of seasons. His 156 points in 282 games since the start of the 2021-22 campaign rank 24th among defenders league-wide.

Regarding Cozens, they join the Red Wings as teams that have firmly demonstrated interest throughout the season, at least from what’s been reported. Their pursuit of a young middle-six center dates back to an early-season report from Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.

Goal-scoring has been the limiter for the Flames, who rank 27th with 2.63 goals per game. But buoyed by solid team-wide possession play and expert goaltending from rookie Dustin Wolf, they’re still firmly in the playoff race far later in the season than most expected.

However, they have just six players with at least 20 points and none even in the neighborhood of a point per game. Cozens, who’s struggled by his standards with nine goals and 21 points in 43 games, would still rank seventh on Calgary in scoring.

Cap space won’t be an issue in any transaction the Flames want to make. They’ve already accumulated $36.66MM in space as of today’s writing and will have a whopping $81.18MM to add on deadline day if their roster remains as is, per PuckPedia.

Whether they’re willing to move any of their four first-round picks over the next two years will be the determining factor in how aggressively they can continue their retooling in the coming months. Cozens, selected seventh overall in 2019, would likely require at least a first-rounder for Buffalo to consider parting ways, but with Buffalo likely desiring a roster player back in return, the Flames don’t have much to offer that would be appealing.

Rasmus Andersson Hopes To Remain With Calgary Flames

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Rasmus Andersson wants to remain a member of the Calgary Flames beyond this season in no uncertain terms. Andersson reiterated his desire to stay with the Flames organization in a recent interview with Sportsnet’s Eric Francis and his displeasure for some specific teams in the Pacific Division.

Francis quoted Andersson saying, “I love playing here and I’ve always loved playing here and that’s never going to change. Of course I would love to stay here, but I’ve heard from everyone else who has been in my situation that it’s a business.” Furthermore, his passion and loyalty toward the Flames organization has turned into distaste for other organizations with Andersson saying, “I hate the Oilers, I hate the Canucks and that’s just the way I am.”

Given his age, contract term, and recent production, Andersson entered the season as arguably the best trade chip at Calgary’s disposal. Many preseason expectations had the Flames finishing at or near the Western Conference basement after moving on from Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Jacob Markström, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov during the 2023-24 season and this past offseason.

Calgary didn’t get the memo as they hold a 19-14-7 record through the first half of 2024-25 and sit one point back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Flames don’t have the league’s best offense, defense, or goaltending but are controlling scoring chances more times than not leading to their surprising record.

It would be surprising if there wasn’t mutual interest in retaining Andersson. He’s been one of the more underrated two-way defensemen in the league from 2022-2025 scoring 30 goals and 156 points in 279 games for the Flames while holding a career 51.7 CorsiFor% at even strength and +43.5 expected +/-.

Defensemen like Andersson don’t grow on trees, especially as a right-handed shot. He’ll earn a more than affordable $4.55MM salary for the next two years before being eligible for a new contract on July 1st, 2026.

It’s a precarious situation for the Flames. On one hand, they won’t have a trade candidate with as much value as Andersson for quite some time. On the other hand, the loyalty he holds toward the organization plus his on-ice production is something Calgary should want in the roster for the foreseeable future. A resolution of some sort will be decided on soon in the form of an Andersson extension on July 1st or his wearing of another team’s jersey by the end of this season.

Flames Notes: Andersson, Kuzmenko, Center

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Thomas Drance of The Athletic spoke with Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy about defenseman Rasmus Andersson saying that he believes the 27-year-old could be a Flame for a long time. Andersson is coming off a good season in which he posted nine goals and 30 assists in 78 games, but as Conroy puts it, Calgary is going to need him to have an even better year this season.

Andersson is just two years away from unrestricted free agency and Conroy is confident that at some point in the future, the Flames and Andersson will have conversations about a contract extension. Andersson is one of the few remaining veterans in the Flames lineup as Conroy has spent the past year moving on from many experienced players. It will be interesting to see where the franchise is at over the next 18 months and whether or not Andersson will be interested in staying with a team that might not be ready to win when he is close to free agency.

In other Calgary Flames notes:

  • Conroy also spoke about forward Andrei Kuzmenko and his pending free-agent status (as per Drance of The Athletic). Conroy remained non-committal with regards to Kuzmenko’s future, saying that he wanted to see how he fits in with the team and what he looks like on the powerplay this season. Kuzmenko was terrific for Calgary after coming over in a trade from the Vancouver Canucks posting 14 goals and 11 assists in 28 games with the Flames. If he can put up similar numbers this season, he could be looking at a sizable payday wherever he ends up. However, if he struggles like he did in Vancouver last season it does appear that Calgary could be prepared to move on from him.
  • Flames general manager Craig Conroy mentioned to Thomas Drance of The Athletic that he will likely target a young center in the future as much of the team’s focus over the past year has been on defense and goaltending. The Flames don’t really have anyone in their farm system that projects as a top center, so it makes sense for Conroy to address the need. The closest prospect that the Flames have to be a top center would likely be Matthew Coronato, however, given his skating and lateral movement, he may project as a winger instead of a center.

Exploring Options At Defense For Oilers

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The Edmonton Oilers will enter the 2024-25 NHL season with a glaring hole on the right side of their defense. The team will likely have to deploy one of Josh Brown, Ty Emberson, or Troy Stecher on the second pairing but it strikes as a major need if the Oilers plan on competing for a Stanley Cup again this season.

Radio commentator for the team, Bob Stauffer, indicated today that a right-handed shot defenseman with term will be on Edmonton’s radar this season but is fairly vague about when they will ultimately make that addition. Edmonton still has a few options left on the free-agent market such as Kevin Shattenkirk or Justin Schultz. Still, Stauffer’s report indicating that the Oilers are looking for term attached likely alienates any current free-agent candidates.

Not only will it push Edmonton away from any free-agent options but the report from Stauffer indicates the Oilers will peruse the trade market for a second pairing right-handed shot defenseman. Their options are limited at this stage of the NHL calendar but there are still a few options worth exploring.

Arguably the best option for Edmonton resides about 200 miles south in Calgary. Rasmus Andersson of the Calgary Flames has two years and $9.1MM remaining on his contract and represents an ideal candidate for the Oilers to plug into their top four. He’s scored 138 points in 239 games for the Flames over the last three years while averaging 23:31 of ice time per night. Andersson can be trusted in all situations and is a responsible player in the defensive zone.

Despite the fit and the separate trajectories of both teams — the Oilers and Flames don’t like each other to put it bluntly. The two organizations have only connected on three trades in their histories with the most recent coming in 2019 being a swap of James Neal and Milan Lucic. General manager of the Flames, Craig Conroy, has shown a willingness to trade within the Pacific Division but aiding his organization’s biggest rival may be too bitter of a pill to swallow.

The Washington Capitals are another option although they would not be considered a rebuilding organization. The team brought in Matt Roy this summer on a six-year, $34.50MM contract which may make them more comfortable moving a defenseman such as Trevor van Riemsdyk. He wouldn’t be as much of a needle mover as Andersson but he would be a more reliable option than their internal candidates.

The younger van Riemsdyk brother recently played in his 10th NHL campaign last year and has excelled in blocking shots. He’s averaged 126 blocked shots a season with the Chicago Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes, and Capitals and the Oilers could use more of that after finishing 30th in the category last season. Adding van Riemsdyk to their defensive core would give Edmonton a grace period in adding a true top-four defenseman as they could then move van Riemsdyk to the bottom-pairing next to Darnell Nurse or Brett Kulak.

Edmonton will be hard-pressed to find other options on the trade market with most teams having already finalized their roster heading into the 2024-25 NHL season. The Oilers are unique as their offense could easily carry them to the trade deadline but the right side of their defense must be addressed before the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

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

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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.

Morning Notes: Maple Leafs, Andersson, Sabres

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Unlike other teams that have recently claimed their offseason checklists are complete, the Maple Leafs are still open for business, general manager Brad Treliving said on TSN 1050 last week. “To me, we’ve still got five weeks or so till camp,” Treliving said. “And, you know, we’re not set yet. We continue to look at ways to make our team better.”

It’s more like four weeks now, but Treliving’s right in that there are still multiple minor moves Toronto intends to make before veterans roll in for training camp. Chief among them is likely finding a home for disgruntled winger Nicholas Robertson, who remains an unsigned RFA after reportedly requesting a trade in June. The 2019 second-round pick finally broke into an everyday role with the Leafs last season after a few years of being relegated to minor-league roles, producing well in a depth role with 14 goals and 27 points in 56 games. That was good enough for 39 points over a full 82-game sample, but his ice time remained limited at 11:23 per game. Going pointless and averaging less than 10 minutes per game in six playoff contests against the Bruins didn’t boost his stock.

That means there’s still an unknown ripple effect on the Leafs’ forward depth. They’ll undoubtedly replace Robertson’s role one way or another, either by recouping a similar player in a swap or making a UFA signing to avoid putting too much pressure on rookies Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten to crack the opening night roster. Doing so would be a tricky fit with the salary cap if injured defenseman Jani Hakanpaa ever puts pen to paper on his reported two-year, $3MM deal, though. As things stand, they only have $1.275MM in space with a roster size of 21, per PuckPedia, which is not enough to be cap-compliant with Hakanpaa on the roster to start the season.

More from around the league:

  • The Flames have been on a major selling spree for the past year, shedding a multitude of veterans as part of a significant roster overhaul. Top-four staple Rasmus Andersson was among the players Calgary was getting calls on before last year’s trade deadline, but they ultimately opted to keep the 27-year-old while trading away Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev instead. Nothing’s really changed on that front this summer, The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie said in a recent mailbag. Andersson isn’t off the trade block entirely, but it’ll take an overwhelmingly valued offer to pry him out of Alberta. He still has two years left on his deal at $4.55MM against the cap and has a six-team no-trade list.
  • Even with the Sabres entering training camp with Bowen Byram in tow for the first time, expect head coach Lindy Ruff to deploy Mattias Samuelsson on the team’s top pairing alongside Rasmus Dahlin to begin the season, writes Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. It’s a pairing that previous bench boss Don Granato used with aplomb when Samuelsson was in the lineup, but the promising stay-at-home defender has missed significant chunks of the past two seasons with injuries. With Byram then expected to slot in alongside Owen Power on their second pairing, the Sabres may be the only team in the league without a right-shot defenseman in their top four.

List Of Players Getting Trade Protection On July 1st

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In the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, the league players can procure three types of No-Move Clauses in their contracts. The only stipulations to these clauses are that the player in question must be 27 years of age or older and must have accrued seven years of service time at the NHL level. The three types of No-Move Clauses are as follows: No Movement Clause (NMC), No Trade Clause (NTC), and Modified NMC or NTC.

Per the current CBA, an NMC means that a player cannot be waived, assigned to minors, or traded without their consent, and they also must be protected in the event of an Expansion Draft. An NTC is straightforward — giving the player protection from being traded without their approval. Lastly, a modified NMC or NTC sets an arbitrary number of teams and a time frame when a player can use this protection. In just over a week, an assortment of players will receive trade protection on their current contracts, and CapFriendly has broken it down.

 

No Movement Clauses
D Charlie McAvoy (Boston)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina)
D Devon Toews (Colorado)
F Roope Hintz (Dallas)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota)
F Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
F Timo Meier (New Jersey)
G Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (Washington)

No Trade Clauses
F Ross Colton (Colorado)
D Nick Seeler (Philadelphia)
D Vince Dunn (Seattle)
F Clayton Keller (Utah)
D Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)

Modified No Trade Clauses
F Jordan Greenway (Buffalo) – eight-team no-trade list
F Tage Thompson (Buffal0) – five-team no-trade list
D Rasmus Andersson (Calgary) – six-team no-trade list
D Samuel Girard (Colorado) – nine-team no-trade list
F Miles Wood (Colorado) – six-team no-trade list
F Alex DeBrincat (Detroit) – 16-team no-trade list
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – 10-team no-trade list
F Nico Hischier (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
D John Marino (New Jersey) – eight-team no-trade list
D Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
F Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders) – 22-team no-trade list
D Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – 10-team no-trade list
F Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay) – 16-team no-trade list
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg) – 10-team no-trade list

Pacific Notes: Pohlkamp, Mangiapane, Andersson, Fleury

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In an update from Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, San Jose Sharks’ prospect Eric Pohlkamp has entered the transfer portal after only one season at Bemidji State University. The Sharks originally drafted Pohlkamp with the 132nd overall selection of the 2023 NHL Draft.

Despite being a late-round pick, Pohlkamp has turned into something of a diamond in the rough for the Sharks organization. Scoring 11 goals and 24 points in 32 games for Bemidji State this season, Pohlkamp also registered one goal and three points for Team USA en route to a gold medal in this year’s IIHF U20 World Junior Championships.

As for his potential landing spot, Max Miller of The Hockey News is reporting that Pohlkamp will be deciding between two different options. North Dakota University, who recently had their season ended by the University of Michigan this past weekend, and Denver University, who are about to play Boston University in the Frozen Four, are both vying for Pohlkamp’s services.

Other Pacific notes:

  • In some positive news on the injury front for the Calgary Flames, Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet reports that forward Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Rasmus Andersson returned to practice for the team earlier this morning. Earlier this week, Andersson had originally missed practice due to taking a maintenance day, while Mangiapane has missed the team’s last two games due to an undisclosed injury.
  • For the fourth time this season, defenseman Cale Fleury has been reassigned to the Coachella Valley Firebirds, as the Seattle Kraken announced the transaction earlier today. Unfortunately, Fleury has still not been able to register a game for the Kraken this season but has managed to score six goals and 32 points over 50 games for the Firebirds across the year.

Flames Receiving Trade Interest In Rasmus Andersson

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There has been no shortage of trade speculation coming from Calgary this season.  Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm have already been moved while Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, and Jacob Markstrom are all in the rumor mill as well.  But those aren’t the only players teams are calling about as ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that the Flames are also receiving trade interest in defenseman Rasmus Andersson.

The 27-year-old has become a top-pairing player in recent seasons after putting up 50 points in 2021-22 and 49 points in 2022-23 while logging big minutes.  This year, Andersson’s numbers are down a bit as he has 28 points through 51 games so far but is averaging a little over 24 minutes a night and is playing in all situations.  With 122 blocks, he’s only 14 shy of his career-high on that front as well.

On top of that, Andersson has a contract that certainly has been well below market value as of late.  He’s signed through the 2025-26 campaign with a $4.5MM cap hit, a price point that’s more commensurate with a second-pairing player than a top-pairing one.  Getting someone with that type of surplus value would make a lot of sense for many teams.

Of course, holding onto a player like that also makes sense for Calgary.  GM Craig Conroy indicated earlier this week that he doesn’t intend for the Flames to go into a full-scale rebuild.  It’s one thing to move players on expiring contracts as they’ve done twice so far and could do twice more with Tanev and Hanifin where you risk losing the player for free in free agency but it’s another to move a controllable key asset like Andersson.

Accordingly, it would be surprising to see Conroy move Andersson in the three weeks before the March 8th trade deadline unless the return was simply too good to pass up on.  However, that won’t stop teams from inquiring in the hopes that they can come up with an offer that would make Calgary part with one of its top blueliners.

Pacific Notes: Kraken, Carlsson, Sharks, Andersson

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The Seattle Kraken are getting sued by the trademark holder of the old Seattle Metropolitans logo for how the Kraken decided to design their Winter Classic jerseys. Trademark holder Paul Kim claims that the red ‘S’ draws close similarity to the old Metropolitans logo, despite the Kraken telling Kim that they would go in a different direction with the Winter Classic jerseys after dispute over the early design.

This lawsuit details the breakdown between Kim and the Kraken organization over the course of 24 pages, claiming that the logo, colors, and pattern used by the Kraken were ”virtually identical” to the Metropolitans jersey, going as far as featuring “1917” on the collar in reference to the Metropolitans’ 1917 Stanley Cup Win. Seattle Metropolitans Hockey LLC claims they’ve lost an estimated $2.5MM from the release of the Kraken’s Winter Classic jerseys. Seattle will still wear the contentious jerseys in Monday’s Winter Classic, with the lawsuit coming too close to the event to alter the team’s course. The decision made in this lawsuit could help define the future relationship that the NHL’s newest franchise can have with its predecessor.

Other Pacific Notes:

  • The Anaheim Ducks have moved Leo Carlsson to injured reserve. The prolific rookie suffered a scary knee injury last Thursday, ending up with a sprained right knee ligament that’s expected to hold him out for four to six weeks. The 19-year-old had managed eight goals and 15 points through his first 23 NHL games.
  • The San Jose Sharks have announced a string of injury updates – sharing that goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood is trending in the right direction to play on Sunday, while Ty Emberson and Logan Couture are doubtful for the matchup. San Jose will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak when they face the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. The Sharks have been outscored 33-to-10 over their long-term skid.
  • The flu bug is continuing to spread around the NHL, with Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson missing the team’s Friday practice with illness. The team did not share any updates about Andersson’s availability for their Sunday night matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers. Andersson has appeared in 31 games this season, leading Flames defenders in scoring with 18 points.

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