Less than a week ago, defenseman Rasmus Andersson publicized his commitment to the Calgary Flames, suggesting that he spurned the trade interest in him last offseason by being unwilling to sign a long-term extension. However, in a recent episode of Frankly Hockey with Frank Seravalli, the insider reported that Andersson is willing to join a team that plays in an area of the United States without a state income tax, and that the Dallas Stars have shown the most interest.
Much has been made of the teams that play in no-income-tax states recently. Since the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, at least one team has been from a no-income-tax state, with the Colorado Avalanche being the only recent champion from a state that has one. If one of those teams were to be the one that ultimately acquires Andersson, it would be another instance of the rich getting richer.
If that’s the only qualifier for Andersson, which is unrealistic, the Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Vegas Golden Knights would join the Stars as potential suitors. However, given the competitive states of the Predators and Kraken, only the Panthers, Lightning, Golden Knights, and Stars would make theoretical sense.
All four teams are among the league’s best, though there are legitimate arguments for not acquiring Andersson. The Panthers, for example, are no strangers to big moves, but already have Seth Jones and Aaron Ekblad on the right side of their defensive core.
Still, the other three have a legitimate need for a top-four defenseman, particularly from the right side. Andersson would easily complement Thomas Harley in Dallas, Ryan McDonagh or Victor Hedman in Tampa Bay, or Noah Hanifin or Shea Theodore in Vegas.
The interesting note from Seravalli’s report is that the Stars are not only interested in Andersson but also have kicked the tires on Blake Coleman. Coleman, who’s signed through next season at a $4.9MM cap hit, would be an immediate upgrade to Dallas’ middle-six. He’s scored 10 goals through 36 games this season and is only a few years removed from helping the Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, scoring eight goals and 24 points in 48 games.
Unfortunately, if the Stars were to acquire Coleman and sign Andersson to a longer-term extension after acquiring him, it would make it nearly impossible for the team to retain Jason Robertson, who’s a pending restricted free agent. Dallas could potentially make a move or two to make the money work, but Robertson’s value has risen dramatically this season, scoring 23 goals and 44 points in 37 games.
Ultimately, only time will tell if Andersson and Coleman are eventually moved. Despite a recent string of hot play, the Flames remain five points back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, and don’t appear poised to make a significant postseason run, even if they do qualify.
Hurricanes have the cap space to overpay to compensate for the State income tax.
Fantasy:
Canes put together a mutually workable package to acquire both Coleman and Andersson.
I don’t see Tampa going after Ramus Andersson at all. Tampa’s defense has been one of the their strengths this season.
However, on a side note, in the offseason, I could definitely see Tampa eyeing Jason Robertson if he becomes an available RFA move by Dallas but that’s another thing altogether.
Robertson is signing 9+ which would require tampa trying to retrieve (minimum) their 2027 1st back from Seattle
I wasn’t getting into the logistics of a potential trade as no one knows how the Robertson situation will turnout. Furthermore, the trade market is never what people perceive it to be. How many times people say it will take this or that scenarios to get someone and then the trade happens, and it’s not close to what people estimated.
Yes the lightning d-core has been miraculously successful this year, but they certainly could use a bolstering move to help to not have to rely on the 3 AHL call ups, also with Cernak not expecting to return anytime soon, Andersson would fit in perfectly, especially as a complementary partner to Hedman and then you could keep Moser-Raddysh together, when fully healthy the d-core is solid for sure but that has been an issue and while D’astous and Crozier have proven they can hang, not having to increasingly rely on them would only serve to help the bolts
@Nick – You make some strong and valid points. Erik Cernak is expected though to be back at the end of December. Andersson would be a complementary partner with Hedman for sure. Yes, not having to heavily rely on D’Astous and Crozier who have proven themselves may be something to consider. Also, Emil Lilleberg is coming back in January too but Tampa’s young defensemen is something Tampa feels quite comfortable moving forward with as they’ve proven they can handle taking on heavy TOI and being overall reliable as they’ve shown most of the season.
However, Tampa/Calgary have done little to no trades between them in their existence. Furthermore, Andersson is not going to be cheap to get from Calgary and is going to want a lucrative contract this offseason. Tampa has J.J. Moser (RFA) and Darren Raddysh (UFA) to extend after this season. They’ll also probably keep D’Astous but he’ll be cheap overall. I just don’t see Tampa messing with their defensive depth which is why their defense has been so strong just to grab a rather hit or miss defender like Andersson.
He signs at $13M+
Glad to hear Cernak is expected back soon, truthfully wasn’t aware as I hadn’t seen anything on him in quite awhile. But yea you do raise some very valid points, and I agree that management probably being comfortable with the defense and understandably so, my concern has always been injuries, seeing Carilile and Santini in the lineup has made me nervous, so maybe it’s not Andersson (though I do think he could be a good fit) but, out fear of any of the top 4/5 not being able to maintain a spot due to injuries, a solid depth defender would be nice for BriseBois to consider before the deadline
Also although the trade didn’t go through, Tampa was close to acquiring/extending Hanafin before Vegas stepped in and got him, so there is a least a history of negotiations but there could potentially be some sour feelings maybe, hard to say
Yes, Cernak is expected back by month’s end. Hopefully, it stands. Yes, injuries are a concern especially the way this season has been for Tampa on that front. Carlile and Santini have played well under manageable conditions. Carlile has shown promise and actually, I believe I read somewhere that Tampa has one of their better plus differentials when Carlile is on the ice. Tampa has 7 maybe 8 (if you include Carlile) defenders that are fully capable of holding ground. Could they get another defensive piece for additional depth? Sure, it never hurts to have depth especially on defense. A veteran defender would be a security cover for them.
Yes, you bring up a valid point about the Noah Hanafin situation but unfortunately Tampa didn’t have the draft capital that Calgary wanted but it is what it is. Will Tampa go back to that well with Calgary?…History may say, probably not because of the bleak history between Tampa and Calgary transaction history but only time will tell. However, Tampa’s management seems more interested right now in more bottom six depth hence, for them looking into a player like Kiefer Sherwood.
Coleman was born in Texas, so that would seem to be a good fit.
There can’t possibly be an advantage for no-income tax states. Bettman has continuously downplayed this notion and he wouldn’t favour American teams over Canadian teams. That’s just absurd!
Gary Bettman works for all franchise owners. Please explain why any of them would allow him to be biased in favor of any franchise.