32 Thoughts: Elliotte Friedman breaks down the challenges with the Calgary Flames trading Rasmus Andersson

The big story that has circled the Calgary Flames all offseason has been their plans with Rasmus Andersson. All signs point to him moving to a new team, but when that happens is anyone’s guess. Last week on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman talked about how both sides understand that this is the end of the relationship, but with one year left on his current deal, it’s not impossible to expect that he remains in Calgary to start the season.

This caused a stir in Calgary, and Friedman went into even more detail on today’s episode. Here’s what he said:

What did Friedman say about Rasmus Andersson?

Friedman started by talking about the big challenge to trading Andersson, which is that teams aren’t going to trade for him unless they feel comfortable that they can sign him long-term. For what the Flames want for Andersson, the cost has to be for a player with either an extension in place or a high possibility that the team can retain his services long term.

Friedman pointed to the Noah Dobson trade to Montreal, and how that deal only worked because the Canadiens had Dobson locked up long-term as part of the deal.

Then Friedman dropped a bomb:

I think Vegas took a big run at him last week but couldn’t get it done. And I think there was a team that did think they were gonna get something done, but Anderson wouldn’t extend at this time.

This appears to be the catch-22 for the Flames. The teams that want him can’t afford to pay what the Flames want from him, and the teams that can afford him don’t seem like teams that Andersson wants to extend with. This poses a challenge for Craig Conroy and team.

And this is likely why Conroy came out to say that Andersson could start with the team this year. Friedman noted this may be a positive for the team:

And the thing that the Flames will benefit from about this is that Anderson’s gonna wanna have a big year. He wants to hit the big payday so he’s gotta have a big year. So I still think Calgary can see the benefit to that.

Andersson knows that if he wants to earn that big payday, he’s going to need to play exceptionally well to show other teams that he is worth the money he thinks he deserves. This could be super valuable for the Flames, who will then have an even more valuable player to trade at the Trade Deadline next year if they cannot move him this summer.

There are obviously risks to this strategy, with injuries and team chemistry with a player clearly on the way out being the biggest two, but if a trade doesn’t materialize in the summer, this could potentially work to the team’s advantage.

The other thing is that if the Flames do hold him till the deadline next year, Friemdna did note that they could trade him to a contender next year, who would pay handsomely for his services. This would also work for Andersson, who could show his value in the postseason and increase his trade value.

The challenge is that the Flames would get a return comparable to other trade deadline trades, which is less than a player with term, but if nothing else materializes, this isn’t the worst thing in the world.

What happens now

Realistically, it makes most sense to move Andersson now, but that only works if a market materializes for him. If the Florida Panthers sign Aaron Ekblad, Andersson becomes the best defenceman remaining on the market, and there is a good chance a team asks about his services.

The ball is in Craig Conroy’s hands now. Let’s hope he doesn’t fumble it.