When the Calgary Flames drafted him way back in 2015, there was a lot about Rasmus Andersson to get excited about.

Selected at 53rd overall with the club’s first selection of the draft, Andersson was touted as a right-shot blueliner with talent, size, professional experience in Sweden and the potential to become a power play quarterback for the Flames in time. Sure, it might not be easy and the developmental path for young blueliners is often not a straight line, but you could see the potential.

On Saturday night, Andersson played his 500th NHL game with the Flames. (He played 22:53 and was plus-1 in the Flames’ win against Winnipeg.)

Andersson played his 16 and 17-year-old seasons in Sweden primarily with the Malmo Redhawks in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. He moved to the Ontario Hockey League in 2014 for his draft year, and ended up playing two seasons as an import with the Barrie Colts before going pro – he was teammates in Barrie with fellow Flames draft choice Andrew Mangiapane.

It goes without saying that Andersson was really good at hockey from a young age. His dad played in the NHL briefly and his brother was an NHL draft choice, too. Sometimes when players are super talented at a young age, they don’t need to develop great habits away from the rink. Andersson was infamously criticized by then-general manager Brad Treliving during 2016’s development camp, with Treliving noting that his fitness needed to improve.

Andersson worked his butt off for the rest of that summer and after being assigned to the Stockton Heat as a 20-year-old he had a strong season in the AHL. He was rewarded for his progress that season with a month in the NHL, where he shadowed Mark Giordano and played just a single game, the final game of the 2016-17 regular season. He took another step the following season, playing 10 NHL games as a mid-season call-up and playing in the AHL’s All-Star Challenge.

In 2018-19 he was one of the final players cut from Flames main camp… but he was called up before playing a single AHL game after Travis Hamonic was hurt in the NHL season-opener. By the time Hamonic was recovered from his injury, Andersson had played well enough in relief that the club carried eight defencemen for much of the rest of the season because he was too good to send down. Andersson took advantage of the opportunity and became a third-pairing fixture in 2018-19, beginning his climb up the Flames’ lineup.

When Hamonic left the Flames in free agency in 2020, Andersson moved up to the second pairing. When Giordano was claimed by Seattle in the 2021 expansion draft, Andersson moved up to the Flames’ first pairing. He’s led the Flames in average time on ice by a defenceman since 2021-22 began, and he’s 10th in the entire NHL in ice time during that period.

Andersson has been challenged several times since being drafted by the Flames. He had his fitness criticized. He’s had onlookers doubting his abilities to move up the lineup and maintain his effectiveness. Heck, he was hit by a car while riding a scooter a couple seasons back. But through all the doubt and adversity, he’s kept improving his game and becoming a larger and larger part of the Flames on and off the ice.

On Saturday, he became the 24th player to play 500 games for the Flames franchise and the 15th homegrown draft pick to do so. He commemorated the occasion by doing what he’s been doing for the past four seasons: playing big minutes against the opposition’s top players in each and every game situation. His progress wasn’t entirely linear, but Andersson has become what the Flames had hoped he could be when they drafted him a decade ago.