The risk quote for flames can convince Anderson to re-sign – Hockey Writer – Calgary Flame
In an interesting incident, Pierre Lebrun reported on Tuesday that Rasmus Andersson remains a trade candidate ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Meanwhile, the door does not completely close the extension of the Calgary flame.
Could Anderson be traded?
The feeling of Anderson will be moved all summer. Even Flame Captain Mikael Backlund publicly stated that it was inevitable. And, for a moment, it looked like a defender was on his way to the door.
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Lebrun reports that Vegas Golden Knights have almost reached a deal, a team that rumored Andersson is willing to extend the contract – but the deal has not come true. For whatever reason (probably Mitch Marner), Las Vegas keeps moving forward. They might revisit him, but there was no feeling. This allowed the flames to either find another trading partner or wait, which brought Anderson back to the game this season.
“…He’s here, everyone is an adult in the room. He’s ready to wave his best for the flames, and the flame is happy to have him back. At the same time, either side is willing to close the door completely on the stretch.”
Will this lead to Calgary’s expansion?
LeBron also added an interesting wrinkle to his report, suggesting that there is a scenario where Flame and Anderson decide not to trade at all. In this case, extension is possible.
However, this extension is unique to the flames because they are the only team that can actually provide what Anderson might want.
Lebrun explained:
“As for now, the team told Anderson what it is, hey, let’s start this year, let’s see how things get back here and then we’ll revisit that at some point. I think Anderson might be listening to the table quotes for eight years, but now, now, I just think the team is going there, and I think that’s before the March trade.
Unless he trades first and shows signs, his move elsewhere involves signatures and trade, the best Anderson can do in the open market is a seven-year contract with other teams. This makes Calgary the club that can give him his eighth year, and it sounds like he might be looking for it. But, given his age and the eight-year contract bringing Andersson to his 30s, there are risks.
Have these two aspects been discussed? If Calgary was willing to offer him such a long term, would Anderson be open to such a deal?
The flame will take huge risks
“I grew up in this city and I love every second of it…it’s the business side now. Is it smart to re-sign now after last season? I don’t know…I’m just coming out of Gates and worried about myself.”
In other words, Anderson doesn’t sound like he’s going to sign in the 2025-26 season. This means the Flame will have to be confident about the eight-year contract and the fact that Andersson signed it after the deal deadline. It was a gamble, and if the flames remained, he would have chosen not to stay, which would have backfired and walked away without returning on July 1st.
