Former NHL goaltender and beloved-by-all-NHL-fans insider Kevin Weekes dropped a relatively big tweet at precisely 2:28 a.m. Eastern time regarding trade rumours and the Calgary Flames defence core. However, it wasn’t about the defencemen in Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin, which is who the rumours have been about up to this point.
While Tanev is a defensive specialist and arguably the best defensive defenceman in the entire NHL, and Hanifin is the reliable two-way defender, Andersson has been the offensive presence on the Flames back-end since he was drafted in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft. This season has been a bit of a down year, only registering a total of 28 points through 49 games played, which puts him on pace for 46 points, three behind his total of 49 in 79 games played last season and four away from his 50 points in 82 games two years ago.
The problem for Andersson this season hasn’t been his even-strength play. The problem has been the power-play and the points he is producing there. I mean, just look at the disparity between the expected goals for per 60 (xGF/60) and the goals for per 60 (GF/60) in this chart from Evolving-Hockey.
Andersson, 27, is making $4.55 million per year for the rest of this season and the two seasons following, so, if general manager Craig Conroy decides that moving Andersson is the right move, he would be moving away a player with some term left and a few years left of his prime.
It’s important to mention, of course, that just because Andersson is garnering interest doesn’t mean that Conroy is going to do anything with it. He doesn’t have to rush into anything, and frankly, it’s hard to see the Flames deciding to move Andersson unless the potential offer they receive blows them out of the water.
Conroy has been extremely smart with the deals he has made so far because he has been patient and not rushed to give away players due to what the fans or media are saying and speculating. It’s an important trait for a general manager to have. The tweet from Weekes is an interesting one for speculation purposes, but given where the Flames are in the standings and what their status is as a seller, it’s not entirely surprising that insiders might be getting wind of teams taking calls on other players on the roster.
As Conroy said on Barn Burner not too long ago, there aren’t any “untouchables” per se. At this stage, anyone can be dealt, and Andersson is just another player to have his name thrown into the rumour ring.
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