Rasmus Andersson on remaining a Flame: ‘It takes two to tango’

Following the Calgary Flames’ impressive 6-3 home victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night, defenceman Rasmus Andersson was the guest on After Hours. As you can imagine, Scott Oake and Eric Francis had a lot of places they could go with the Flames’ top player this season.

Well, they went everywhere, with the first slew of questions going right to the heart of the matter: Andersson’s uncertain future with the Flames.

A 2015 second-round pick by the Flames, Andersson has become one of the team’s cornerstone players over the past decade. But he’s in the final year of his current deal (with a $4.55 million cap hit), and if he and the Flames don’t come to terms on an extension before the trade deadline it’s widely expected that he’ll be dealt. He was asked by Oake whether, if it was entirely up to him, would he remain a Flame.

“I mean, it’s the old saying, it takes two to tango, right? And, you know, it’s, yeah, I mean, obviously, I love every second of me playing it for the Flames. And, you know, I’ve enjoyed, I’ve been in the organization now for almost 11 years. And, you know, I’ve loved every second of it. But let’s just leave it at it takes two to tango.”

The whole interview is available on Sportsnet’s YouTube page – we’ve embedded it below – and Oake and Francis hit on everything.

• Andersson’s expiring deal and how he’s avoided it being a distraction.
• Andersson’s dream of playing in the Olympics for Sweden, like his father did.
• The origins of the Andersson Death Stare.
• Playing through a broken leg last season.
• Only missing three games after getting hit by a car in Detroit in 2022-23.
• His excitement at being a parent to young children.

Andersson recounting his (scattered) memories of his 2023 scooter accident in Detroit is really compelling. He was medically cleared to return to play after just three games, but him describing the mental toll the accident had on him continuing into the following season and how he worked through it was really revealing.

The whole interview runs just under a half-hour and is really great.