On Tuesday on TSN’s “Insider Trading” segment, Pierre LeBrun reported a couple pieces of information that many Calgary Flames fans probably suspected… but didn’t really know.
The Flames have “no interest” in trading Andersson. “In fact, the Flames hope to extend Rasmus Andersson potentially this summer when he’s allowed to extend one year out.”
LeBrun’s reporting has led to a bit of a debate among Flames fans as to whether it’s better for the club to retain Andersson past his current contract, which expires following the 2025-26 season, or use him as an asset to acquire future assets like draft picks or prospects.
A good thing to think about, given the debate, is what Andersson’s next deal – potentially an extension with the Flames – would likely look like. So we spent some time digging through some recent contracts signed by big-name blueliners to build a group of comparable players and we can use them to project the neighbourhood for what Andersson’s deal should look like based on the marketplace.

A selection of comparable players

Using PuckPedia’s extensive database of player signings (and contract details), we dug around looking for long-term deals signed by prominent blueliners. In general, we were targeting anything over six years or $6 million AAV, ideally both.
We came up with five defencemen that signed long-term deals since the beginning of 2024 that are somewhat close in role, production or prominence to Andersson’s with the Flames. From there, we’re looking at their point and goal production in the three full seasons prior to them signing their new deal.
Shea Theodore
  • Last three seasons (2021-24): 180 games played, 27 goals (0.124 per game), 135 points (0.750 per game), 22:20 TOI/game
  • Signed a seven-year deal with Vegas with a $7.245 million AAV, extension begins in 2025-26
Brady Skjei
  • Last three seasons (2021-24): 243 games played, 40 goals (0.165 per game), 124 points (0.510 per game), 21:25 TOI/game
  • Signed a seven-year deal with Nashville as a free agent with a $7 million AAV
Jaccob Slavin
  • Last three seasons (2021-24): 236 games played, 17 goals (0.072 per game), 106 points (0.449 per game), 22:09 TOI/game
  • Signed an eight-year deal with Carolina with a $6.396 million AAV
Filip Hronek
  • Last three seasons (2021-24): 223 games played, 19 goals (0.085 per game), 125 points (0.561 per game), 22:27 TOI/game
  • Signed an eight-year deal with Vancouver with a $7.25 million AAV
Noah Hanifin
  • Last three seasons (2021-24): 242 games played, 30 goals (0.123 per game), 133 points (0.550 per game), 22:31 TOI per game
  • Signed an eight-year deal with Vegas with a $7.35 million AAV

Looking at Andersson in comparison

Andersson turned 28 in October. He’s under contract for this season and the 2025-26 season. He’ll turn 30 during the first month of the 2026-27, the first month that he’ll play games under his next contract.
Heading into Thursday’s game in St. Louis, Andersson has played 498 career games and has scored 42 goals (0.084 per game) and 218 points (0.438 per game). Over the past three seasons (2022-25), he’s played 200 games and has scored 26 goals (0.130 per game) and 106 points (0.530 per game). He averages 24:03 of ice time per game over the past three seasons.
Using the last three seasons as a baseline, Andersson has scored more goals per game than everyone but Skjei, has more points per game than Skjei and Slavvin, and has played at least a minute more per game than everyone in the comparison group. In part because of the recency of his signing and the familiarity with the player, if I’m Andersson’s camp I’m looking hard at Hanifin’s deal as a comparable – Hanifin has more points-per-game, but Andersson has more goals and plays more per game. (Hanfiin’s younger so an eight-year deal would capture more of his “prime” years, but Andersson’s goals and ice time per game are higher so you could argue it’s a bit of a wash.)
However, with the cap rising each year, agents tend to compare player compensation as percentages of a team’s total cap space rather than as a dollar amount. Hanifin’s $7.35 million cap hit is 8.35% of Vegas’ $88 million total cap space in the first year of his deal (2024-25). And so if you’re holding the percentage of the cap total constant, you would be thinking Andersson would be aiming for around 8.35% of whatever the Flames’ total cap allowance is in the first year of his deal, 2026-27.
Assuming a 5% bump in the cap in each of the next two seasons, the total cap allowance would rise to $97 million and the rough AAV target for Andersson would be around $8.1 million or so. However, 2026-27 is the first year of the next collective bargaining agreement and so until the CBA is finalized, we don’t quite know where that cap number will end up.
If I’m Andersson’s camp, even if I’m upbeat about negotiating an extension with the Flames, I don’t want to talk turkey until we know precisely what the cap allowance will look like in 2026-27 and the precise shape of the deal can get hammered out.