Four Teams In as Flames Push for Rasmus Andersson Trade

Insiders are now reporting that the Calgary Flames are telling other NHL teams to get their offers in when it comes to trading for defenseman Rasmus Andersson. If they want to make a pitch, this is the time. Their intention seems to be to move him prior to the Olympic roster freeze.

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Both Frank Seravalli and Pierre LeBrun are reporting that this deal is potentially coming in the next 24-48 hours. LeBrun writes, “As others have noted, things have heated up on the Rasmus Andersson trade front. He wasn’t held out of the lineup last night, but sense is talks have intensified. Let’s see where it goes over the next 24-48 hours as to whether it gets done or not.”

Elliotte Friedman also reports on the 32 Thoughts podcast that this is getting close. He explained:

“Calgary has indicated that they want this done straight up before the Olympic break, which is three weeks from today. Today being Thursday — the pod drops on Friday — but as we record this, it’s Thursday, and the Olympic break is three weeks away. There’s an Olympic trade deadline on February 4, and I believe the Flames want the deal done by then.”

He added, “I also believe that Rasmus Andersson would like the trade done by that point as well. So I think there’s a lot of effort being made.”

Who Is In on the Andersson Trade Discussions?

Friedman said that there are already teams showing heavy interest. “There have been some reports this week about Boston, and I definitely think the Bruins are involved.” He added that the toughest thing is always knowing exactly where things stand at any given moment with the Bruins and the Flames. “I’ve heard it’s on, it’s off, it’s on, it’s off. I know there were people who thought at one point it was pretty close, and then it backed away. We’ll see where it goes, but there is definitely mutual interest there.”

He added that another team poking around is Vegas. The Golden Knights pursued Andersson last year, but they couldn’t get a deal done. “I don’t think it ever really got that close, but I still think Vegas is lurking.”

He added, “I also suspect Dallas, and I always assume there are teams involved that I’m not aware of — teams fishing around quietly.”

Finally, a bit of a surprise team is the Canucks. “Of all the talk right now, Vancouver is another team kind of in the middle of everything…”

All Contracts an Option

Friedman said that both a contract extension and a rental trade are possible. It sounds like he’s open to extending in the right situation, but no one is ruling out the idea that this could be a rental and he might test free agency. The longer this trade takes, the more he’s likely to lean toward testing the market.

Both Seravalli and Friedman said that if it’s Boston, there’s likely an extension involved.

Next: Top 5 Trade Bait Targets to Watch as the NHL Trade Deadline Nears