The Flames entered this summer looking to improve upon last season, but haven’t made many player additions. They have been busy thus far, signing several restricted free agents, including Morgan Frost and Kevin Bahl. However, they haven’t made any outside improvements to the roster and still have to take care of restricted free agent Connor Zary’s next deal. The Flames also have a couple of veterans whose names have been in trade rumors this summer, including defenseman Rasmus Andersson and center Nazem Kadri. Kadri’s name has popped up over the past few weeks, and he would be a desirable trade chip. Andersson has had his name in headlines for a while and has been linked with several teams, but no trade has materialized.
Calgary faces a tough dilemma with Andersson, who has one year remaining on his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2026. The Flames can attempt to move him this summer, but without an extension secured, teams might hesitate to meet a high asking price. The Flames aren’t eager to sell Andersson for less than they believe he’s worth, but they also wouldn’t be wise to sign him long-term right now, considering his recent decline in play. Andersson remains a vital trade piece for the Flames if they choose to make him one, and he could bring Calgary multiple assets even if he doesn’t agree to an extension.
The flip side is that Calgary is trying to rebuild, and trading away a capable right-shot defenseman in his prime will set the team back, as they are unlikely to get a roster player of equal value to Andersson in return. That said, Frank Seravalli reported over a month ago that both Andersson and the Flames have exchanged figures on a potential extension, and they don’t seem to be on the same page.
For his part, Andersson seems eager to test the market, as he has been selective about which teams he would negotiate a contract extension with, when asked by the Flames (according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic). It’s a bit of a gamble for the 28-year-old, as he is coming off two disappointing seasons and risks severe damage to his market value if he has another off year next season. Andersson is set to earn $4.55MM next season in the final year of a six-year, $27.3MM contract he signed back in January 2020. That deal initially proved to be a bargain for Calgary and has been closer to market value over the past two seasons.
Andersson’s offensive numbers took a significant hit last season, and his plus/minus was dreadful at -38. While plus/minus isn’t the best stat to gauge a player’s overall performance, a closer look reveals his PDO was only .953, suggesting a lot of bad luck. Nevertheless, the -38 is quite striking, and Andersson did face struggles defensively, along with poor puck management, last season. It would be a significant risk for Calgary to sign Andersson to an extension at this time, but trading him when his value is lower than it could be is also a gamble.
Calgary forward Kadri has also had his name mentioned this summer, and his situation is very different from Andersson’s. Kadri is coming off a strong season with 35 goals and 32 assists in 82 games and is six years older than the defender. He also has four years remaining on his contract, with a cap hit of $7MM, and he holds a no-movement clause.
The timing of a potential Kadri trade this summer seems unusual since he has significant control over where he would go and is just a year away from his full no-movement clause turning into a 13-team no-trade list, which could make him easier to move. However, Calgary might see risk in waiting to trade him because he will be 35 at the start of October and could begin to show signs of aging. It’s a delicate balance for Calgary as they try to improve and compete for the playoffs next season, and they wouldn’t exactly be dealing from a position of strength if they move Kadri.
Beyond Kadri, Calgary has Mikael Backlund, Frost, and Martin Pospisil as their second, third, and fourth-line centers, respectively. If anything, that is a group Calgary would probably like to add to, but it might not happen this off-season. Yegor Sharangovich and Zary could also play center for the Flames, but it would deplete an already thin forward group unless the Flames received NHL-ready forwards in return for Kadri.
All of this to say, that it doesn’t feel like the right time for Calgary to trade Kadri, but it definitely can’t be ruled out given Kadri’s age and contract. Andersson, on the other hand, is a wild card; the negotiations haven’t been significant on an extension, so it’s entirely possible he gets moved before the season and will almost certainly be traded at the NHL Trade Deadline unless he signs an extension.
Photo by David Gonzales-USA TODAY Sports
There are more benefits to trading Andersson ASAP than waiting for a heated TDL market, primarily because of injury risk & a repeat in stock-dropping performance. There’s still a decent second-pairing FA available too… I’d expect Conroy may make that move by the first week of October as they gauge the market.
Would a Morgan Rielly for Kadri deal work? Money is the same. Flames can move Rasmus for picks and prospects then. Rielly and Weegar as a top pairing is pretty good. Flames basically get picks and prospects for Kadri….
I sincerely doubt the flames would make that deal. They have Parekh who looks poised to possibly play that role of PPQB (and projects to be far better than Rielly at least offensively) and even if he doesnt crack the roster why would the Flames put a road block to PP1 time. They also have Poirier and Brustewicz who also play that offensive role. And being in a rebuild to add Rielly doesn’t make sense in my opinion.
Good point. Parekh plays RD though. Rielly is a LD. The other two likely need 1-2 years to be full time players as well. It would be an interesting trade though. I actually really like Rielly as he’s a solid person and never caused issues on the team. He’s a great teammate and he the ability to put up 45-60 points. He’s not good in his own end but a good partner will offset that. Cheers.
I wonder though do the leafs want Kadri back? Also I thought they said (I know people say a lot of things and rescind afterwards) that trading Reilly wasn’t in the cards?
@mcdavid. I think he would be good for a year or two but I believe he has four years left on his contract? He’ll be 39 at the end of it and probably a third liner making 7.5 million. If the leafs are in win now mode, I guess for a year or two it could work.
Kadri would certainly solve the Hurricanes hole as the second line center.
“Insider” Nick Kypreos started the Kadri nonsense, I often think he spit balls stuff and then puts it out as something he heard. As for Anderson and his -38, he played over 20 minutes a game much of the last part of the season with a broken fibula. I’m quite sure many teams would have interest. He wasn’t named captain of team Sweden because he is in decline.