Rasmus Andersson has been a hot topic of discussion in Calgary this off-season. Should the Flames re-sign him? Should they trade him? When should they trade him? There are a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to the Swedish defenceman.

As the days go by this summer, it feels more likely than not that Andersson will be on the Calgary Flames to start the season. There are going to be a lot of opinions on whether or not that is a good thing. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of having Andersson on the Flames roster come opening night in October.

A lot of people might roll their eyes at this idea. But keep in mind that Craig Conroy’s plan revolves around always being competitive and always being in the mix for a playoff spot. Bottoming out or tanking is not something this organization is interested in doing.

If the Flames want to make the playoffs, they are going to need Andersson on their roster up until the trade deadline. Losing a top four defenceman of Andersson’s calibre before the season starts without a suitable replacement ready to go will put this team behind the 8 ball.

The defence core is good with Andersson on it. But without him, it’s easily in the bottom 10 of the NHL.

Zayne Parekh is destined to be a star in the NHL. But it is going to take some time for him to get used to the NHL game. And there is nothing wrong with that.

With Andersson on the Flames, it allows Parekh to play on a third pair for at least the first few months of the season. This is going to give the 2024 9th overall pick time to get used to the speed and physicality of the NHL game in sheltered minutes.

Without Andersson, all of the sudden Parekh could get thrown into playing a top four role on the Flames right away as a 19 year old rookie.

The best course of action is to be patient with Parekh’s development next season. Having Andersson on the team allows you to do that.

And when the time comes to trade Andersson in February or March, Parekh might be able to step into his role on the second pair and hold his own because he had time to develop behind Andersson during the season.

This could also keep the Flames competitive after the trade deadline because you’ll have a suitable replacement for Andersson in the top four.

Andersson is coming off the worst season on his NHL career. He got off to a fantastic start. In the month of October he led the Flames is goals, assists, and points.

From November onward, things went downhill. In his final 71 games of the season, he put up 21 points and was -40 which was the second-worst plus/minus in the NHL during that time.

His perceived trade value has more to do with his reputation and contract situation rather than his on ice play from last season. But if he can get his game back to the level Flames fans know he can get it to, then his trade value will significantly increase.

And there are a ton of incentives for Andersson to have a great season. Not only is it a contract year, but it’s also an olympic year. The time is now for Andersson to have the best season of his career. And that will only help the Flames on and off the ice.

Rasmus Andersson himself will not be a distraction. He is a respected teammate and leader in the Flames locker room whether he is in a contract season or not.

What will be a distraction is the storyline and fan discussion.

As long as Andersson is a member of the Flames, the media and the fans are going to be talking about trading him and what a future trade is going to look like.

And what happens if he struggles like he did last season? All of the sudden his trade value will decline and the discussion on social media will have the potential to get out of control.

And one of the reasons why the Flames were so successful last season was because of the lack of discourse around the team. It was a quiet year off the ice and I think that played a major role in this team of underdogs punching well above their weight.

The most obvious con to keeping Andersson into the season is risking injury on your most valuable trade trip.

The worst case scenario is that Andersson suffers a season-ending injury which can happen to any player. It’s a fast, physical, crazy game.

The one saving grace for the Flames is that Andersson is has been incredibly durable throughout his NHL career. He has only missed 23 games over the last seven seasons.

It’s not all bad if Conroy decides to start the season with Andersson on the Flames. Will there be some risks? Of course. But if you’re in the camp of wanting the Flames to make the playoffs, then holding on to Andersson could make a lot of sense.

It’s going to be fascinating to see how this all goes down.