Calgary Flames defender Rasmus Andersson day-to-day after scooter accident in Detroit

The Calgary Flames may be without a big piece of their team for a little while. Per the club, defenceman Rasmus Andersson was hit by a vehicle while riding a scooter in Detroit and is listed as day-to-day. He is not expected to play on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings.

First and foremost: hopefully Andersson’s feeling alright after, y’know, being hit by a vehicle. Even if he was healthy enough to be released from hospital, that cannot have been a pleasant experience.

We’ll see what impacts this has on the Flames’ line-up in the short-term. Andersson and Noah Hanifin have been the only defensive pairing that hasn’t required shuffling this season due to performance or injury, and missing Andersson for a game or two could have a big impact on basically every aspect of the club’s on-ice play because he plays in every situation – first pairing, first unit power play and on the penalty kill.

Connor Mackey is on the roster as the seventh defender, so we’ll see Mackey enter the lineup and the pairings shuffled up. (We suggest Hanifin/Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov/MacKenzie Weegar, and Mackey/Michael Stone.) But we’ll see what lineup news emerges from morning skate and/or warm-up.

Andersson’s absence will snap the team’s current iron man streak: Andersson had dressed for 323 consecutive games dating back to mid-November 2018.