The Calgary Flames traded Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. Caglary retained 50 percent of Andersson’s salary to acquire Zach Whitecloud, a 2027 first-round pick, a conditional 2028 second-round pick (which would be the first if Vegas wins the Stanley Cup this year), and prospect Abram Wiebe.
However, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman told Pat Steinberg, Wes Gilbertson and Logan Gordon on Flames Talk on Sportsnet 960 The Fan, Andersson and his camp indicated to GM Craig Conroy that he was not signing an extension with any team he was traded to.
NHL Trade: Calgary Flames Trade Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights
Writing for NHLRumors.com
Pat Steinberg: “Elliotte, we really appreciate the time. We can’t keep you too long on short notice, and I know you had a long day on Hockey Day in Canada on Saturday. So we really appreciate the time. It’s good to talk to you, my friend. I know you’ve been grinding for a while. How did this all come about this Sunday?”
Elliotte Friedman: “Well, I think the main thing is that I understand that Andersson indicated on Sunday that he’s not going to sign an extension with anybody at this time. So that got Boston out. I don’t think they were willing to pay what it was going to cost them to do this deal without the extension being guaranteed.
And I’m not sure what happened the last few days, but yesterday, while I was working on this, everyone seemed to be under the impression that Andersson might sign with the Bruins. But I think the Bruins got to the point where they needed to know one way or the other: do we do this or do we move on? And today, I think the information was given that he wasn’t going to sign an extension. And once that happened, the pendulum swung for the Golden Knights.
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You know, Pat, you’re in Calgary. The Golden Knights tried to acquire him last year regarding the draft. They really loved him. I think he really liked the idea that he might play for them. And Vegas was always in a position, like I said, in the last few days they could do it, they were willing to do this without the guarantee of an extension, because they thought they could sign.
And I think if you look at other teams that may have been involved in this, and I think Boston was there, I think it was Dallas, I think it was Toronto, I think there are others that I don’t really know.
But I think if the extension, part of it went away, I think Vegas was in a really good place. I don’t know what the Stars ended up doing in the end. I think they would also do without the guarantee of extension. But when I look at this offer, I just don’t know if I’ve seen Dallas beat it.”
Flames manager Craig Conroy on Flames Talk: “I was informed this morning that he wasn’t going to sign with any team, so any deals I was going to make would be a lease … Some teams were open to the idea of bringing him in, letting him see what the city was like and then make a decision. But ultimately, I felt like Vegas had the best offer on the table.”
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“It’s his right to say he’s not going to sign right now. I respect that, and he and his agent were willing to let me know instead of wasting time going forward with teams maybe thinking they could get him signed. We wanted to get the best return we thought we could get.”
NHLRumors.com Note: Starting with the Boston Bruins, GM Don Sweeney had a history of getting extensions done by UFA players. As much as the Bruins wanted him, an extension was necessary. Despite the Bruins being the clubhouse leader, the Vegas Golden Knights had the edge because they were willing to let him go without an extension, as GM Kelly McCrimmon knew he could sign him, as he did with Noah Hanifin.
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