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Flames trade Rasmus Andersson to Vegas Golden Knights
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Jan 18, 2026, 17:27 ESTUpdated: Jan 18, 2026, 18:44 EST
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Rasmus Andersson’s tenure with the Calgary Flames has come to an end.
The Flames have traded Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for defenceman Zach Whitecloud, college defenceman Abram Wiebe, a 2027 first-round pick and a conditional 2028 second-round pick. The Flames are retaining 50% of Andersson’s cap hit in this trade.
The trade was first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first with the return.
Andersson was originally selected by the Flames in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft, taken with a draft choice the Flames acquired from Vancouver in exchange for Sven Baertschi. After a few years of development in the Ontario Hockey League with the Barrie Colts and the American Hockey League with the Stockton Heat, Andersson became an NHL regular early in the 2018-19 season.
Since making the jump to the NHL, Andersson has carved out a really prominent role for himself. He’s regular one of the top defencemen in the NHL in minutes played, and he’s become relied-upon as first over the boards in essentially every single game situation – even strength, power play and penalty-killing. He’s been a fixture in their top two defensive pairings since 2021-22, and he’s served as an alternate captain since 2022-23. He leaves the franchise ranked 15th in games played (seventh among defencemen) with 584 and 35th in points (sixth among defencemen) with 261. In 48 games with the Flames this season, he had 10 goals and 30 points.
Andersson’s in the final year of a six year contract carrying a $4.55 million cap hit. He’s eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Via Dreger, there are conditions on the two picks coming to Calgary:
  • Vegas’ 2027 first-round pick is top 10 protected, meaning if that pick, after the lottery, is in the top 10, the pick slides to 2028.
  • Vegas’ 2028 second-round pick becomes a first-round pick in 2028 if Vegas wins the Stanley Cup in this season.
(We’re presuming that if the 2027 pick is top 10 and the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup this season, then the Flames would get their 2028 and 2029 first-rounders instead. But we’ll ask.)
Whitecloud is a 29-year-old right shot defenceman with two years remaining on a contract that pays him $2.75 million. He was signed as a college free agent by Vegas at the tail-end of the 2017-18 season. He has seven points in 47 games with Vegas this season, and he has 78 points in 368 NHL games, all with Vegas.
Wiebe is a 22-year-old left shot defenceman in his third year at the University of North Dakota, where he plays with Flames prospects Cole Reschny and Cade Littler. He was selected by Vegas in the seventh round in 2022. He has 14 points in 24 NCAA games this season with the Fighting Hawks.
We’ll have much more on this move in the coming days.

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