Rasmus Andersson is on the move.
The Calgary Flames traded the 29-year-old defender to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday evening in exchange for defender Zach Whitecloud, the rights to unsigned defensive prospect Abram Wiebe, a 2027 1st round pick (top-10 protected) and a conditional 2028 2nd round pick that can become a 2028 1st round pick if the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup this season.
Calgary already owns Vegas’ 2026 1st round pick from a prior trade.
The Flames retained 50% of Andersson’s salary in this transaction, so Andersson will carry a $2.275 million cap hit against Vegas’ total salary cap as the trade deadline looms March 6th.
TSN”s Darren Dreger broke the news of the trade before Sportsnet‘s Elliotte Friedman filled in the details of the return.
There is no extension for Andersson as part of the trade.
Dating back to last season, Vegas had always been an attractive destination for Andersson with his current contract set to expire this summer.
Now, the Golden Knights can do what they’ve already done before when they acquired Noah Hanifin from the Flames in March 2024– they can sign Andersson to an extension anytime between now and July 1st like how they did with Hanifin about a month after acquiring him.
Despite not ending up with the player, the Boston Bruins played a large part in the facilitation of Andersson’s trade to the Golden Knights.
A source close to the Flames indicated that the Bruins had received permission to discuss an extension while working on the potential trade and had an agreement in place with Andersson on an extension late Saturday night. Boston’s general manager, Don Sweeney, would not budge, however, from his offer of Mason Lohrei, Matthew Poitras and a 1st round pick as part of the return to Calgary.
This source also previously indicated a roster player from Vegas and a 2nd round pick as part of the initial offer that Kelly McCrimmon had made to the Flames at one point prior to the widespread report of Boston’s offer making the rounds on the Internet.
It is reasonable to believe that Calgary’s general manager, Craig Conroy, used both offers he had received to sweeten the deal in the return for Andersson.
McCrimmon ended up offering an additional pick and the rights to an unsigned prospect regardless of an extension, thereby meeting Calgary’s demands that Boston was unwilling to match with or without assuring themselves of locking up Andersson long-term as a Bruin.
Sweeney’s front office had some qualms with Conroy’s asking price to begin with and Boston wasn’t going to execute a trade without Andersson extended.
98.5 The Sports Hub‘s Ty Anderson, a Bruins beat reporter, noted that Boston had some internal debate regarding whether or not the Bruins should part with one of their next four first round picks in the potential trade for Andersson (the now former Calgary defender turned Golden Knight, not Ty).
Boston remains intent on adding where they are able to do so approaching this year’s deadline. The Bruins are also aware that they are more likely than not closer to where Calgary is at in terms of the playoff picture– looking on from the outside in.
Bruins management does not want to risk their future with a solid core of David Pastrňák, Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman leading rising stars like Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov as well as collegiate prospects, James Hagens, Will Zellers and Dean Letourneau fast approaching the NHL level.
In the end, Vegas gets the defender they want for a potential Cup run and the Flames get Whitecloud, Wiebe and potentially two more of the Golden Knights’ first round picks to add to their stockpile.
Having now acquired Andersson, Vegas is believed to begin negotiations on an extension as soon as possible. The Golden Knights had not received permission to speak with Andersson prior to the trade, unlike Boston.
What Andersson brings to Vegas
Rasmus Andersson is a 29-year-old native of Malmö, Sweden and has 10-19–29 totals in 47 games with the Flames this season.
The 6’1″, 202-pound, right-shot defender was originally drafted by Calgary in the 2nd round (53rd overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft and later made his NHL debut with the Flames in the 2016-17 season, recording 18:33 time on ice in San Jose on April 8, 2017.
He matched his career-high in goals last season (11) in 81 games compared to the 79 games that it took in 2022-23. Andersson had a career-high 46 assists in 82 games with the Flames in 2021-22, and went on to produce a career-high 50 points and plus-30 rating that season as well.
After a dismal minus-38 rating in 81 games last season in Calgary, Andersson has rebounded to a plus-1 rating in 47 games prior to being traded to Vegas.
Andersson has 57 goals and 203 assists (260 points) in 583 career NHL games with the Flames and 7-7–14 totals in 27 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
He is averaging 24:12 time on ice this season and is likely to reunite with former Flames teammate, Noah Hanifin, on Vegas’ second defensive pairing and have a little more of a reserved role with the Golden Knights.
What Whitecloud brings to Calgary
Zach Whitecloud is a 29-year-old native of Brandon, Manitoba and has 2-5–7 totals in 47 games with the Golden Knights this season.
The 6’2″, 210-pound, right-shot defensive defender was undrafted and originally signed as a free agent with Vegas on March 8, 2018.
Whitecloud made his NHL debut about a month later against the Edmonton Oilers on April 5, 2018, and was a plus-three in 16:42 time on ice.
He has averaged 17:44 per game in 368 career NHL games (all with Vegas) and was a member of the 2023 Stanley Cup-winning Golden Knights team. Whitecloud has 23 goals and 55 assists (78 points) in his regular season career, while adding 5-12–17 totals in 78 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
He carries a $2.750 million cap hit through 2027-28.
What’s up with Abram Wiebe?
An unsigned prospect in his third season with North Dakota, Abram Wiebe is a 22-year-old, 6’3″, 209-pound left-shot defender. The Mission, British Columbia native has 3-11–14 totals in 24 games with the Fighting Hawks this season and was originally drafted by the Golden Knights in the 7th round (209th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft.
He is currently listed as an alternate captain for his NCAA intercollegiate club and had previously served as the captain of the Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL) in 2022-23.
He had 1-9–10 totals in 40 games as a freshman with North Dakota in 2023-24, and 24 points (four goals, 20 assists) in 38 games in his sophomore season.
Down the Frozen River 