Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund told reporters he expects longtime teammate Rasmus Andersson to be traded before the season begins.
“Yeah, he’s getting traded. It’s obvious,” Backlund told The Athletic’s Michael Russo. “But the team wants value. He wants a big contract. So he wants to play well. The team needs him to play well. So, just go out and play. I talked to him, too, and he doesn’t want to be a distraction. So it’s all good. It’s too bad it’s come to this. I don’t think that they’re close to getting an agreement or anything, but you never know. Things could change. We’ll see.”
Andersson enters the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $4.5 million. The 28-year-old defenseman becomes a pending unrestricted free agent next summer.
Trade speculation has followed Andersson for multiple seasons now.
The Flames reportedly refused to move Andersson before March’s trade deadline. Andersson said multiple times last season he wanted to stay in Calgary.
Calgary has the cap space to re-sign Andersson. But he’s also the team’s most valuable trade asset heading into 2025-26.
The right-shot defenseman plays on the top pairing and handles all situations. Andersson recorded 31 points and 196 blocks last season while averaging nearly 24 minutes per game.
Calgary selected Andersson in the second round of the 2015 draft. He made his NHL debut during the 2016-17 season and has appeared in 536 games for the franchise.
The Flames improved from 81 to 96 points last season but missed the playoffs. They lost the final Western Conference wild-card spot to the St. Louis Blues on a tiebreaker.
