For every player in their ‘contract year’, there is usually much discourse within that team’s market and often around NHL media spaces. In most cases, for players with 2+ years remaining on their deal, this is typically too early for casual fans to consider spending time debating that player’s future.
However, as passionate fans of a pro hockey team in Canada, discussion has already begun regarding the future of certain players, including defender Rasmus Andersson. It may be stressful for a player like Andersson to go online and find people speculating about where they should go, including hypothesizing trades and exit strategies for great hockey players, especially when getting into the financial weeds.
This article will outline why it would be great for Andersson to stay with the Calgary Flames for the rest of his hockey career, incorporating genuine hockey and human elements into the discussion.
A brief history of Rasmus Andersson
The Flames drafted Rasmus Andersson 53rd overall in 2015 from the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League. The 2015 NHL Draft is widely considered one of the strongest draft classes in modern NHL history among the hockey community, as it included stars like Mitch Marner (among others) at the top of the draft, and players like Mathew Barzal, Roope Hintz, and Andrew Mangiapane who have significantly out-produced their ‘draft slot.’
In reflection, the Flames got one of the top 5 defenders from the 2015 draft class, despite their first selection being 53rd overall. In hindsight, combined with the rest of the players Calgary got from the 2015 draft, this is an incredible haul compared to the team’s draft capital.
Over the next few seasons, Rasmus Andersson split games between AHL Stockton and NHL Calgary, eventually finding a full-time job in the 2018-19 season, where Johnny Gaudreau had 99 points and Calgary achieved 50 regular-season wins.
The following few seasons showed some flash and potential, where Andersson was a bottom-4 defender, but contributed ~20 points per season plus some elevated playoff production which earned him a 6-year deal at $4.55 million. This was January of 2020 when Andersson signed that contract, and here we are looking at the final two years of that deal. Since Andersson signed that deal, most of the Flames roster has changed. Here are the remaining players from that 2019-20 team that played with 22-year-old Rasmus Andersson:
- Mikael Backlund
That’s the list. Blake Coleman and Dan Vladar joined for the 2021-22 season, making only three teammates to have played with Andersson on the Flames for more than 3 seasons. Business of hockey aside, friendships, camaraderie, off-ice team environments, and more are important factors in a hockey season, especially during the ups and downs. Having players that ‘want to be in Calgary’ is important, but having players grow with you as people and players is such a special piece to a hockey career, and I wonder if the large shifts in the team roster affected Andersson during those key growth years.
The 2024-25 Calgary Flames
Moving to the present-day Calgary Flames, Andersson has evolved into Calgary’s #1 RD, and has started the season with 12 points through his first 20 games, including 5 goals. This projects the defender to reach 20 goals for the first time in his career (career high is 11 goals) and ~50 points, which is a reasonable point pace for the player and a 10+ point increase from last season. Keep in mind that his shooting percentage is 13.5%, more than double his career average of 4.8%, but there is always a chance he stays hot this year.
The Flames have been excellent on defence this year, especially by putting Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar on different pairs. Calgary has only conceded 2.65 goals per game through 20 games, which is the 8th-lowest goals against per game in the NHL (as of Nov 22). With Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar holding down the fort in net this season (8.7 total Goals Saved Above Expected via Moneypuck), what was originally an uncertainty going into the season with Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev gone is now less of a problem.
In Andersson’s specific case, along with the great individual numbers mentioned above, playing primarily with Kevin Bahl has offered a solid and simple option for passing and play creation. Taking a further look into advanced stats, NaturalStatTrick ranks the Bahl-Andersson pairing as the 14th-best pair in Goals For Percentage (GF%) in the entire NHL at 5v5 (min. 200 minutes together), meaning that when Bahl-Andersson is on the ice, 57% of 5v5 goals scored are by Calgary. In contrast, the Weegar-Miromanov pairing is at a 53% GF%.
When looking further into the advanced statistics, one may be concerned with the following 2024-25 metrics being below 50% at 5v5:
- Shot attempts (CF%): 46%
- Unblocked shot attempts (FF%): 47%
- Shots on goal (SF%): 48%
- Expected goals (xGF%): 45%
While it may be ideal to concede fewer shots than opponents in general, with goaltenders you can trust (good On-Ice SV%) and starting few face-offs in the Offensive Zone (only 39%), this strategy has worked so far this season. The key is that Bahl-Andersson and their teammates have battled through teams that shoot. At the end of the day, goals are the only metric that matters to the scorekeepers and refs, and the Bahl-Andersson pair is succeeding in that regard. Time will tell if this strategy gets overwhelming in meaningful games toward the end of the season.
Calgary is also only operating a 15% power play (26th) and a 75% penalty kill (27th), so special teams do not seem to be a break/excuse for Calgary’s good season so far, being 11-6-3 through a quarter of the 2024-2025 season. This further outlines the effectiveness of Calgary’s #1 defender Rasmus Andersson, who has contributed to a positive team culture that will battle through adversity and ‘defy the analytics’ to win games to start the year. If the Calgary Flames were losing games, we’d likely see Rasmus Andersson’s stats be much worse, since he’s the go-to option on defence this year for the club, playing almost 25 minutes each night (24:48) per NHL.com.
Player and team legacy
Rasmus Andersson is 23rd in all-time games played for the Flames at 475 games (via NHL Records). If he were to stick with the Flames, based on his past results, effort, and leadership, a 6-plus year deal could be on the books and that could bring him near the top-5 (#5 is Al MacInnis with 803 GP). For the individual legacy and the Flames franchise, it would be great to reflect on the post-COVID Calgary Flames with pride where players like Backlund and Andersson played the rest of their careers up in Calgary and were ‘legends’ in their own rights.
For someone who demonstrates visible effort each game, including entertaining celebrations and positive on-ice success for the team, with evident leadership abilities as well, it would be great to see Andersson stay with the Flames as a ‘fan favourite,’ as a leader for the future generations of Flames defenders (Hunter Brzustewicz, Zayne Parekh, etc.), and as the #1 defender for the Flames in a season where the team has been tasked with proving the hockey world wrong.
I also hope to see Andersson at the 4 Nations Face-Off for Team Sweden in February. There would be a great sense of Flames pride to have players like him and Backlund play in the all-star-esque environment for a league-operated tournament.
Overall, while there may be increased discourse over the next year or two about Andersson’s contract, potential trade options, and more, I hope this article reminded you of Andersson’s long history and loyalty to the Flames and their fans, as well as his high-level hockey abilities and positive attitude toward sport. I look forward to seeing more years of Andersson in a Flames jersey.
All the best to Rasmus Andersson this season and onward.
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