Over the last week it has become apparent that Rasmus Andersson’s time in Calgary is going to come to an end. Frank Seravalli, Elliotte Friedman, and Pierre Lebrun have all reported that the Calgary Flames and Andersson are far apart on a potential contract extension.

A trade is certainly on the horizon. We don’t know when exactly it’s going to happen. But now would be a good time for Conroy to pull the trigger on a deal. Other teams around the league have the most cap flexibility right now. On top of that they are going to start filling holes in their roster between now and July 3. Strike while the iron is hot, Craig.

There are a lot of teams that could use Andersson next season. I counted at least 15 that need help on the right side of their defence.

This is a sellers market. Andersson might be the best right shot defenceman available on the trade block this summer. There is not a better time than the next week to trade the Flames veteran defenceman.

Here are the five trade partners that make the most sense for the Flames in an Andersson deal.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have a tendency to exploit market inefficiencies. And picking up a top four, right shot defenceman for between $2.25-4.55 million might be one of those opportunities.

The only right shooting defencemen on the Lightning signed into next season are Erik Cernak and Darren Raddysh. JJ Moser can play the right side. But it would be ideal to bring in a guy like Andersson and move Moser to their third pair.

The Lightning might be able to keep Andersson beyond the 2025-26 season. Ryan McDonagh is a free agent next summer. You could use his money to extend Andersson which might make this deal more enticing for Tampa.

The Lightning have $3,480,001 of cap space to work with as of June 22. And they have an asset that might interest the Flames. That being the rights to Hobey Baker Award winner Isaac Howard. The Michigan State Spartan ripped up the NCAA last season picking up 52 points in 37 games. He was also game breaker for the 2025 gold medal winners at the World Juniors, scoring seven goals and nine points.

Would Isaac Howard and a mid-round draft pick be enough to put a trade over the finish line? The Flames would obviously need assurance from Howard that he would sign in Calgary this summer.

Despite having a horrific 2024-25 season, Barry Trotz and the Nashville Predators are looking to get back in the playoff picture. They are going to need to do some serious roster reconstruction in order to get there. And it starts on the right side of their defence.

As of June 22, the only right shot defencemen that are signed for next season in Nashville are Justin Barron and Nick Blankenburg. That’s it.

The Predators are not going to be competing for a playoff spot with the lack of depth on the right side.

Nashville also needs a shot in the arm when it comes to their culture, leadership group, and team personality. That is a stale, unhappy group of players. Andersson could be a great person to add to their locker room with his strong personality and leadership capabilities.

Trotz has a lot of draft capital to work with this summer. The Predators have eight picks in the first two rounds in the 2025 and 2026 drafts, including three first round picks this season.

Could the Flames acquire some significant draft capital in exchange for Andersson?

One team that is not being talked about enough this off-season is the Columbus Blue Jackets. Multiple NHL insiders have said the Blue Jackets are looking to make some serious improvements to their roster.

If the Blue Jackets want to build off their 2024-25 season, they are going to need to add a couple top four defenceman. Especially when you consider both Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro are unsigned as of June 22.

Andersson would potentially have an opportunity to play alongside Norris Trophy runner-up Zach Werenski. Not a bad guy to play with in a contract year.

There are a couple Calgary connections in Columbus that might entice Andersson to want to go there and sign long term. Sean Monahan and Erik Gudbranson are former teammates and friends who could make the transition easy for Andersson.

The Blue Jackets have the 14th and 20th overall picks in the 2025 draft. Could those put a deal over the finish line with the Flames?

Steve Yzerman’s job is on the line this season. He has to make the playoffs.

Where are the weaknesses on his roster? Defensive depth is a big one. Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson are nice pieces. The quality falls off quickly after those two. Ben Chiarot, Justin Holl, and Erik Gustafsson are the only other defencemen signed next season. That group isn’t good enough. They could use a Rasmus Andersson on their second pair.

In terms of assets to work with, I see the 13th overall pick as something the Flames would have a lot of interest in. The Red Wings would likely put that pick in play for the right player and fit on their roster. They also have their 2025 second round pick and two 2025 third round picks.

There might not be a better fit hockey wise for Rasmus Andersson than the Dallas Stars. They desperately need a top four, right shot defenceman to play on their second pair.

Miro Heiskanen plays on the right side despite being a left shot. After Heiskanen, it’s Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Nils Lundkvist. They clearly need to make an upgrade, and Andersson could be that guy.

The issue the Stars will run into is their lack of salary cap space. But there is a way to get around this. And that’s adding Matt Dumba’s $3.75 million cap hit to the deal and having the Flames eat 50% of Andersson’s cap hit.

Even with those measures taken, the Stars are right up against the salary cap ceiling and they lack the high end assets to make a deal happen after trading all their draft picks in the Mikko Rantanen deal.

A starting point of a trade would have to be Mavrik Bourque and Lian Bichsel. Bourque just signed a one year contract to stay in Dallas so it might not be realistic to acquire him which makes coming up with a fair trade even more difficult. It might be worth finding a way to make it happen for the Stars because Andersson is exactly what they need next season.