It took some time to build up to a Rasmus Andersson trade, which started being discussed last season (should they move him a year before his contract ends?), went on into the summer, and was finally consummated Sunday night.
Unsurprisingly, the Vegas Golden Knights walked away with the player.
While last week seemed to be building up to something, the way Andersson left the ice after Saturday’s 4-2 win at home against the Islanders had a “goodbye” feel to it. In that moment, a trade that we had been anticipating as close suddenly seemed imminent.
Sunday afternoon, the Flames moved Andersson to the Golden Knights in return for a 2027 first-rounder, a conditional 2028 second-rounder (that converts to a first if Vegas wins the Stanley Cup this year), NHL defenceman Zach Whitecloud, and prospect Abram Wiebe.
According to Elliotte Friedman on Monday’s 32 Thoughts podcast, a few teams were still in on Andersson over the weekend, but Vegas came into focus on Sunday morning.
“On Saturday night … the Boston Bruins believed they could get a deal done with the Flames and there would be an extension,” Friedman said. “Everything changed on Sunday morning and Andersson’s representative (agent Claude Lemieux), from what I heard, he called the Flames and said we are willing to go to Boston, but we are not willing to do an extension and we won’t be doing an extension anywhere right now. And the world flipped.”
The lack of a contract extension seems to have taken Boston, Toronto, Dallas and Detroit out of the mix. Vegas was still willing to pay upward of two first-round picks plus, and the Flames jumped at the opportunity for their rebuild.
Speaking to Pat Steinberg on Sportsnet 960, Flames GM Craig Conroy said a contract extension “wasn’t going to work out” and that the two sides hadn’t talked more about that option this season. And because Andersson is set to compete for Sweden at the Winter Olympics in a little over three weeks, the Flames had an interest in moving him before the February roster freeze rather than risk an injury taking him out.
So what’s next?
For Andersson, he’ll rejoin former Flames teammate Noah Hanifin in Vegas, and now we wait to see if a contract extension will come. Because Calgary retained 50 per cent of Andersson’s remaining contract, he counts for only $2.275 million on Vegas’ books. When Hanifin was dealt to Vegas without a contract extension in 2024, he re-upped 35 days later.
For Calgary, the rebuild is on, and now we’ll wonder if the Flames will move on Blake Coleman or Nazem Kadri. Whitecloud, who averaged 18:46 per game with Vegas this season, will move straight into the lineup while prospect Wiebe — a seventh-round pick in 2022 — continues to develop at North Dakota for a third season and adds a needed left-shot defenceman to Calgary’s pipeline.
“He wears a letter at North Dakota,” Conroy said of Wiebe, a Fighting Hawks assistant captain. “Games I saw, he played with (Keaton) Verhoeff, so he was helping him. Bigger guy, moves well. Well-rounded game.”
With a new arena set to open in 2027, the Flames seem to still be in the early stages of a rebuild, where things will get harder before they get better again.
For more on both sides of this trade, we turn to our scout, Jason Bukala.
Scout’s Analysis
To Vegas: Rasmus Andersson
Andersson has been playing the best hockey of his career this season for the Flames. He averaged over 24 minutes per game of ice time and was deployed in all situations. He contributed offence at even strength (six goals, 14 assists), on the power play (four goals, six assists), and sacrificed his body, blocking 90 shots.
Andersson immediately becomes Vegas’ leading point-producing defenceman and should see significant time on one of its power-play units. To date, the Knights’ top-scoring defenceman has been Shea Theodore with seven goals and 18 assists,, but he’s contributed only one goal and three assists on the power play.
The Golden Knights have been looking to fill a void on the right side of their defence since they announced Alex Pietrangelo was going to miss the season due to injury. Before trading for Andersson, the right-shot defencemen on Vegas’ roster were Whitecloud and Kaeden Korczak. Theodore is a left-shot, but he’s comfortable playing his off-side.
I’m envisioning Andersson being paired with Hanifin, his former teammate with the Flames.
To Calgary: Zach Whitecloud, Abram Wiebe, 2027 first-rounder, conditional 2028 second-rounder
Whitecloud won’t move the needle offensively like Andersson did for the Flames, but he’s a character player who, at six-foot-two and 209 pounds, never shies away from contact or blocking shots. He averaged just shy of 19 minutes per game of ice time for Vegas, with almost all of his shifts coming at even strength and on the penalty-kill.
Like Andersson, Whitecloud is a right shot. He will very likely slot in to the Flames’ second pairing and assume a similar role in Calgary.
Whitecloud contributed two goals and five assists in 47 games with Vegas this season. He was credited with 73 hits and 63 shot blocks, which speaks to his identity as a player. He is signed through 2027-28, and his contract, especially in relation to his role, is entirely affordable, at just $2.75 million against the cap.
However, as affordable as Whitecloud is, I can’t ignore the fact Calgary retained 50 per cent of Andersson’s contract ($2.75 million), which does make the transaction more expensive for the Flames’ bottom line.
From a draft pick perspective, the Flames made out pretty well, but it wasn’t perfect. That 2027 draft is shaping up to be a strong one, but I’m very comfortable with the current draft class and would have preferred the Flames to come out of this trade with a 2026 pick to begin developing a player quicker and be in position to add a player to the roster a little sooner.
It is too soon to know what sort of draft the 2028 class will bring, but the Flames will have either a first- or second-round pick there, and regardless of the year, it’s always valuable to have any extra swings at acquiring players through the draft.
Wiebe is a left-shot defenceman who is listed at six-foot-three, 206 pounds. He’s a junior at North Dakota and plays a key role for the Fighting Hawks. Wiebe has been deployed in all situations this season and plays between 19 and 24 minutes a game. His skating mechanics are sound on straight lines and he uses his length as an advantage offensively and defensively. His small-area agility will be tested as he transitions to the pro game, but his hockey sense is sound, he generally arrives on time and takes proper routes killing plays defensively.
Wiebe has contributed three goals and 11 assists in 24 games this year.
Wiebe’s NHL projection is a recall/bottom-pairing two-way defenceman who will be deployed at even strength and possibly on the secondary penalty-kill.
