‘I just don’t know’: Andersson’s uncertain future looms over Flames’ off-season
In the crosshairs of a season-long debate over his future, Rasmus Andersson punctuated his ninth season in Calgary Saturday with what sounded an awful lot like a lad who knows deep down his time as a Flame has come to an end.
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CALGARY — It certainly felt like a farewell press conference.
In the crosshairs of a season-long debate over his future, Rasmus Andersson punctuated his ninth season in Calgary Saturday with what sounded an awful lot like a lad who knows deep down his time as a Calgary Flame has come to an end.
“I want to be honest, but I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Andersson, who is slated to enter the final year of a six-year, $27.3 million contract on Canada Day.
“But I hope the fans know that I loved every second of it, and I’ve never taken it for granted.
“There’s a lot of good young players in the organization, and, you know, there’s only a certain amount of right-shot defencemen you can have on the team.
“I wish I could say, ‘hey, yeah, I’m signing July 1,’ or ‘I’m getting traded July 1,’ but I can’t at the moment. I just don’t know.”
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A second-round draft pick of the Flames who has been one of the organization’s more successful development stories in decades, the relationship has reached the point where it’s almost certain the two are working on different timelines.
Andersson, 28, should be looking to cash in on a long-term deal, using his position as a top-pairing defenceman who made Team Sweden as bargaining power.
The Flames are looking to continue building around a young core that should start to contend at a time when Andersson will be approaching the downside of his career.
Simply put, his value on the open market will far exceed what the Flames would consider paying him, short-term or long.
He will get paid next summer, but not here, not now.
Once the two walk away from extension talks with a clear understanding of the inevitable salary gap, Craig Conroy will have no choice but to look to cash in on a valuable asset via the trade market.
On Saturday, the two predictably left all their options open, but as the numbers start to get crunched, it will be increasingly clear that even though the Flames have cap space, it won’t be spent on Andersson.
“I would think something would be done this year, but I don’t want to put a time frame,” said Conroy.
“He has one more year on his contract, so I don’t want to say absolutely it’s going to be something in the next five months.”
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Andersson said he’d be open to returning next season without an extension in place, but given Conroy’s vow on Day 1 to never let an unrestricted free agent walk like Johnny Gaudreau did, there’s little chance this isn’t resolved this summer.
“You saw with Lindy (Elias Lindholm), Tanny (Chris Tanev), Hani (Noah Hanifin) how it worked, and that reality seemed so far away from me when it happened to them,” said Andersson, who has committed to play for Sweden at the upcoming World Championship.
“But now I’m in that spot.”
A spot that will make him the biggest topic of discussion for Flames fans this summer.
Despite averaging 24 minutes a night and being one of the league’s leading shot blockers, Andersson’s 31 points were well off his career high of 50.
His minus-38 was third-worst in the league.
“Point-wise, and me chewing the minuses every night, it wasn’t my best season, and is it smart for me to sign?”
Fair point.
In other words, he believes his market value will be higher next summer, making it even clearer he won’t be willing to “settle” for a Flames offer that doesn’t blow him away.
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The cap will grow next year, as will his bargaining power.
“I understand that it’s a business side of it, and it’s got to make sense for both sides, and they have a number in mind, and I have a number in mind,” said Andersson, who insists he’s been so consumed with the team’s late playoff push he has yet to talk turkey with his family or agent about his future.
“I don’t even know what the number is, because I haven’t even thought about it for a second. I think from both sides, it’s big decisions ahead.”
Zayne Parekh’s debut on the right side of Andersson’s season-long partner, Kevin Bahl, in Game 82 sure seems like a logical pairing next year for the team’s most exciting prospect.
The only other righties include MacKenzie Weegar, Brayden Pachal, Hunter Brzustewicz and Daniil Miromanov.
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There is a remote chance that even without a contract extension in place, Conroy would consider opening the season with Andersson, if only to ensure for the first month or two that Parekh could make the jump. However, he knows the biggest return via trade would come in the summer.
A beloved teammate and leader on a team that has seen him as one of its building blocks for years, Andersson revealed Saturday he played the final 12 games with a broken fibula, suffered while blocking a shot.
It says plenty about the type of character Andersson and his selfless teammates exhibited en route to a 96-point season.
Neal Pionk’s recent six-year, $42 million extension provides an interesting benchmark, as the 28-year-old had more points (39) and a significantly better plus-minus than Andersson (plus-21), while playing two less minutes a night.
Andersson said his future in Calgary was on his mind in the dying minutes of his last home game.
“Especially when we knew we were out, you kind of looked around,” he said.
“This is all I know, and I love playing at the Dome. I grew up here. I played my whole life here, and I love putting on that red jersey every time I come in here, and that’s never going to change.”
Even if his address does.
