Inside the Rasmus Andersson trade, and what’s next for the Flames: Catching up with Craig Conroy – The Athletic
There was no right or wrong answer, but there was still a decision that had to be made on Rasmus Andersson.
Trade him now or wait closer to March 6?
There is no way of knowing if the offers would have gotten better closer to the trade deadline for the top pending unrestricted free agent on the defense market this year. The interest was strong in the moment, with several teams pushing.
The Calgary Flames could have waited, but Andersson playing for Sweden in the Olympic Games became a factor.
“It did,’’ Flames general manager Craig Conroy told The Athletic on Monday, a day after sending Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights. “For me, the one year I was fortunate enough to play in the Olympics, Pavol Demitra and Alex Frolov both got hurt while we were over there. We had five Olympians on the team (the 2005-06 Los Angeles Kings), and two of them got hurt. So it did stick in the back of my mind that these are very competitive games.
“And even Rasmus playing the other night in Columbus and watching him block shots and playing over 25 minutes a night for us, I just felt like if there was an opportunity to get it done sooner rather than later, we were pushing, and teams were also pushing to get it done because they wanted to get him in before the Olympic break.’’
The risk of injury, whether in the NHL or the Olympics, was too much of a gamble. Especially for a pending UFA.
What the Flames couldn’t have seen coming was that after exploring trades that would have involved Andersson agreeing to an extension, his camp, led by agent Claude Lemieux, informed the team Sunday morning that the defenseman wouldn’t be signing with anyone at this point. He would move as a rental, which is totally within his rights. No one should complain about that.
But it was a serious game-changer.
“There were conditions on a lot of the trades and what was maybe going to be put into the trades that, yeah, for sure, if there’s a deal where he signs, they’re more comfortable giving up certain assets,” Conroy said. “But when it’s going to be a rental, the way we were thinking was, ‘You get him into your organization and show him what it’s all about and then get him signed.’ But not everybody feels comfortable with that. They feel more comfortable having him signed and know what he’s going to cost. So it definitely changed the dynamics of the deals.”
Boston, for one, was no longer a trade partner once an extension wasn’t part of things. It scared off a few more teams, too. That Vegas went along anyway shouldn’t surprise anyone. Andersson made it known last offseason that the Golden Knights were top of his list in any sign-and-trade scenario. The Knights are confident he wants to be there and that they can eventually get an extension done, as they did after trading for Noah Hanifin two years ago.
Vegas and Calgary went to the 11th hour on an Andersson trade in June, and Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon remained interested in Andersson.
“We were down the road, and it just felt apart last year,” Conroy confirmed. “When the season started, and the way we started the season, it rekindled pretty early (Vegas showing interest). Kelly always made it known that they had interest.
“And they were willing to do it without having him signed.”
The full deal? The Flames received defenseman Zach Whitecloud, a top-10-protected 2027 first-round pick, a conditional 2028 second-round pick that will become a 2028 first if the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup in 2026, and prospect defenseman Abram Wiebe. They retained 50 percent of Andersson’s salary in exchange.
So what now for Calgary? Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman are two quality veteran players with term left that teams have interest in.
Coleman, 34, has next year left on his deal at a $4.9 million cap hit. His contract is perfect for many contenders. He does have partial trade protection in the form of a 10-team list of approved teams, which was submitted last summer.
Kadri, 35, has three more years after this season at a $7 million cap hit. That’s less appealing, to be sure. But he’s a Cup champion and playoff warrior, and some teams are looking at it. Kadri also has some protection in a 13-team no-trade list.
It’s hard to say where it goes on either player.
Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman are popular names on the trade market. (Elsa / Getty Images)
“It’s a tough one,’’ Conroy said of those two players. “Because you don’t ever want to say in our job, it’s never going to happen. If there’s a deal out there that makes you better? That could be anybody (not just Kadri or Coleman). You’re always trying to focus in on, ‘How do we do this? Do we get younger? Do we get draft picks?’ We’re just looking forward to make this team as competitive as we can as quickly as we can, but that could also mean keeping guys.
“I don’t even want to attach names, but you’re always talking to teams.”
There’s always been a resistance in Calgary to doing the full teardown — the kind that can last six to eight years. But the Flames under Conroy have continued to turn veteran players, especially those on expiring deals, into younger assets. Put whatever word you want on it, as far as rebuild or retool or roster in transition, but it’s about getting younger while trying to remain as competitive as possible. It’s not easy.
“It started three years ago, when I got the job,” Conroy said. “Especially with the new rink coming in in a few years, we’ve got draft picks that we’ve made and more capital coming into the future — we’re always looking to make trades. If we can find younger assets that fit the long-term vision, that’s really still the goal.”
Which doesn’t mean, for example, that Coleman can’t stick around to help mentor a younger core. He hasn’t asked to be moved and is more than happy to stay on.
With Coleman being the most popular name other teams are calling about, where’s the line where Conroy can’t say no? That’s the real dilemma in Calgary, and we’ll find out the answer between now and March 6 at 3 p.m. ET.
