Flames Listening To Offers For Rasmus Andersson, Nazem Kadri, MacKenzie Weegar
After selling off a good chunk of their core over the last 12 months, the Flames are still fully in retool mode. General manager Craig Conroy continues to listen to trade inquiries regarding defensemen Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar, as well as center Nazem Kadri, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.
Calgary has been exploring the market for Kadri as far back as June, Pagnotta said. They’ve been less aggressive regarding Andersson and Weegar. Julian McKenzie of The Athletic said last month that it would take a huge offer to pry Andersson away from the Flames, and there haven’t been many recent trade winds blowing in Weegar’s direction until now.
All three have control over their destinies to some degree. Kadri has a full no-movement clause through 2026, Weegar has a full no-trade clause, while Andersson has the most negligible influence with a six-team no-trade list.
Andersson could have the highest trade value if Conroy wants to kickstart a complete teardown in Calgary. The right-shot defenseman is entirely in his prime, turns 28 in October, and has two seasons left on his contract at a highly affordable $4.55MM cap hit. The Swede has put up 138 points in 239 games over the past three seasons, a 47-point pace over 82 games. After beginning his career in a bottom-pairing role, he’s routinely shouldered over 22 minutes per game in recent years with decent possession metrics.
Kadri’s contract could be a bit of an albatross in trade talks. He has five years left on the seven-year, $49MM pact he signed in Calgary in free agency in 2022, and few teams for which a Kadri pickup makes sense can stomach an incoming $7MM cap hit.
But if he can keep up last season’s pace, he’s worth the price of admission. While it was clear his 87-point platform campaign with the Avalanche in 2021-22 would be a one-hit wonder given his long history as a middle-of-the-lineup talent, he’s still produced above his previous career averages since joining the Flames. Last season was a strong one for Kadri, who led Calgary in scoring by a significant margin with 75 points in 82 games. He’s also displayed durability as he enters his mid-30s, playing in all 164 regular-season contests over the past two years.
He would be willing to waive his NMC “for the right environment,” Pagnotta said, which would likely be a return to the Eastern Conference. Kadri spent the first 10 years of his NHL career with the Maple Leafs before they traded him to Colorado in 2019.
Weegar is the best player of the three and sits as Calgary’s undisputed No. 1 defenseman after exploding for a career-high 20 goals and 52 points last season. Despite that production and continued team-best possession metrics, he’s flown under the radar after receiving outside Norris Trophy consideration during some lesser offensive performance while with the Panthers a few years back.
He has six more years left on his deal at a $6.25MM cap hit, a strong value proposition for a bonafide top-pairing defender. While a right shot, he can also play the left side comfortably. He’s also incredibly involved physically – his 194 hits were second on the Flames last year behind Martin Pospisil‘s 238. The Blues had some outside interest in Weegar around the draft, Pagnotta said, but a trade was never close.
Morning Notes: Maple Leafs, Andersson, Sabres
Unlike other teams that have recently claimed their offseason checklists are complete, the Maple Leafs are still open for business, general manager Brad Treliving said on TSN 1050 last week. “To me, we’ve still got five weeks or so till camp,” Treliving said. “And, you know, we’re not set yet. We continue to look at ways to make our team better.”
It’s more like four weeks now, but Treliving’s right in that there are still multiple minor moves Toronto intends to make before veterans roll in for training camp. Chief among them is likely finding a home for disgruntled winger Nicholas Robertson, who remains an unsigned RFA after reportedly requesting a trade in June. The 2019 second-round pick finally broke into an everyday role with the Leafs last season after a few years of being relegated to minor-league roles, producing well in a depth role with 14 goals and 27 points in 56 games. That was good enough for 39 points over a full 82-game sample, but his ice time remained limited at 11:23 per game. Going pointless and averaging less than 10 minutes per game in six playoff contests against the Bruins didn’t boost his stock.
That means there’s still an unknown ripple effect on the Leafs’ forward depth. They’ll undoubtedly replace Robertson’s role one way or another, either by recouping a similar player in a swap or making a UFA signing to avoid putting too much pressure on rookies Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten to crack the opening night roster. Doing so would be a tricky fit with the salary cap if injured defenseman Jani Hakanpaa ever puts pen to paper on his reported two-year, $3MM deal, though. As things stand, they only have $1.275MM in space with a roster size of 21, per PuckPedia, which is not enough to be cap-compliant with Hakanpaa on the roster to start the season.
More from around the league:
- The Flames have been on a major selling spree for the past year, shedding a multitude of veterans as part of a significant roster overhaul. Top-four staple Rasmus Andersson was among the players Calgary was getting calls on before last year’s trade deadline, but they ultimately opted to keep the 27-year-old while trading away Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev instead. Nothing’s really changed on that front this summer, The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie said in a recent mailbag. Andersson isn’t off the trade block entirely, but it’ll take an overwhelmingly valued offer to pry him out of Alberta. He still has two years left on his deal at $4.55MM against the cap and has a six-team no-trade list.
- Even with the Sabres entering training camp with Bowen Byram in tow for the first time, expect head coach Lindy Ruff to deploy Mattias Samuelsson on the team’s top pairing alongside Rasmus Dahlin to begin the season, writes Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. It’s a pairing that previous bench boss Don Granato used with aplomb when Samuelsson was in the lineup, but the promising stay-at-home defender has missed significant chunks of the past two seasons with injuries. With Byram then expected to slot in alongside Owen Power on their second pairing, the Sabres may be the only team in the league without a right-shot defenseman in their top four.
List Of Players Getting Trade Protection On July 1st
In the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, the league players can procure three types of No-Move Clauses in their contracts. The only stipulations to these clauses are that the player in question must be 27 years of age or older and must have accrued seven years of service time at the NHL level. The three types of No-Move Clauses are as follows: No Movement Clause (NMC), No Trade Clause (NTC), and Modified NMC or NTC.
Per the current CBA, an NMC means that a player cannot be waived, assigned to minors, or traded without their consent, and they also must be protected in the event of an Expansion Draft. An NTC is straightforward — giving the player protection from being traded without their approval. Lastly, a modified NMC or NTC sets an arbitrary number of teams and a time frame when a player can use this protection. In just over a week, an assortment of players will receive trade protection on their current contracts, and CapFriendly has broken it down.
No Movement Clauses
D Charlie McAvoy (Boston)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina)
D Devon Toews (Colorado)
F Roope Hintz (Dallas)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota)
F Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
F Timo Meier (New Jersey)
G Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (Washington)
No Trade Clauses
F Ross Colton (Colorado)
D Nick Seeler (Philadelphia)
D Vince Dunn (Seattle)
F Clayton Keller (Utah)
D Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)
Modified No Trade Clauses
F Jordan Greenway (Buffalo) – eight-team no-trade list
F Tage Thompson (Buffal0) – five-team no-trade list
D Rasmus Andersson (Calgary) – six-team no-trade list
D Samuel Girard (Colorado) – nine-team no-trade list
F Miles Wood (Colorado) – six-team no-trade list
F Alex DeBrincat (Detroit) – 16-team no-trade list
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – 10-team no-trade list
F Nico Hischier (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
D John Marino (New Jersey) – eight-team no-trade list
D Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
F Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders) – 22-team no-trade list
D Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – 10-team no-trade list
F Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay) – 16-team no-trade list
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg) – 10-team no-trade list
Pacific Notes: Pohlkamp, Mangiapane, Andersson, Fleury
In an update from Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, San Jose Sharks’ prospect Eric Pohlkamp has entered the transfer portal after only one season at Bemidji State University. The Sharks originally drafted Pohlkamp with the 132nd overall selection of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Despite being a late-round pick, Pohlkamp has turned into something of a diamond in the rough for the Sharks organization. Scoring 11 goals and 24 points in 32 games for Bemidji State this season, Pohlkamp also registered one goal and three points for Team USA en route to a gold medal in this year’s IIHF U20 World Junior Championships.
As for his potential landing spot, Max Miller of The Hockey News is reporting that Pohlkamp will be deciding between two different options. North Dakota University, who recently had their season ended by the University of Michigan this past weekend, and Denver University, who are about to play Boston University in the Frozen Four, are both vying for Pohlkamp’s services.
Other Pacific notes:
- In some positive news on the injury front for the Calgary Flames, Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet reports that forward Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Rasmus Andersson returned to practice for the team earlier this morning. Earlier this week, Andersson had originally missed practice due to taking a maintenance day, while Mangiapane has missed the team’s last two games due to an undisclosed injury.
- For the fourth time this season, defenseman Cale Fleury has been reassigned to the Coachella Valley Firebirds, as the Seattle Kraken announced the transaction earlier today. Unfortunately, Fleury has still not been able to register a game for the Kraken this season but has managed to score six goals and 32 points over 50 games for the Firebirds across the year.
Flames Receiving Trade Interest In Rasmus Andersson
There has been no shortage of trade speculation coming from Calgary this season. Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm have already been moved while Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, and Jacob Markstrom are all in the rumor mill as well. But those aren’t the only players teams are calling about as ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that the Flames are also receiving trade interest in defenseman Rasmus Andersson.
The 27-year-old has become a top-pairing player in recent seasons after putting up 50 points in 2021-22 and 49 points in 2022-23 while logging big minutes. This year, Andersson’s numbers are down a bit as he has 28 points through 51 games so far but is averaging a little over 24 minutes a night and is playing in all situations. With 122 blocks, he’s only 14 shy of his career-high on that front as well.
On top of that, Andersson has a contract that certainly has been well below market value as of late. He’s signed through the 2025-26 campaign with a $4.5MM cap hit, a price point that’s more commensurate with a second-pairing player than a top-pairing one. Getting someone with that type of surplus value would make a lot of sense for many teams.
Of course, holding onto a player like that also makes sense for Calgary. GM Craig Conroy indicated earlier this week that he doesn’t intend for the Flames to go into a full-scale rebuild. It’s one thing to move players on expiring contracts as they’ve done twice so far and could do twice more with Tanev and Hanifin where you risk losing the player for free in free agency but it’s another to move a controllable key asset like Andersson.
Accordingly, it would be surprising to see Conroy move Andersson in the three weeks before the March 8th trade deadline unless the return was simply too good to pass up on. However, that won’t stop teams from inquiring in the hopes that they can come up with an offer that would make Calgary part with one of its top blueliners.
Pacific Notes: Kraken, Carlsson, Sharks, Andersson
The Seattle Kraken are getting sued by the trademark holder of the old Seattle Metropolitans logo for how the Kraken decided to design their Winter Classic jerseys. Trademark holder Paul Kim claims that the red ‘S’ draws close similarity to the old Metropolitans logo, despite the Kraken telling Kim that they would go in a different direction with the Winter Classic jerseys after dispute over the early design.
This lawsuit details the breakdown between Kim and the Kraken organization over the course of 24 pages, claiming that the logo, colors, and pattern used by the Kraken were ”virtually identical” to the Metropolitans jersey, going as far as featuring “1917” on the collar in reference to the Metropolitans’ 1917 Stanley Cup Win. Seattle Metropolitans Hockey LLC claims they’ve lost an estimated $2.5MM from the release of the Kraken’s Winter Classic jerseys. Seattle will still wear the contentious jerseys in Monday’s Winter Classic, with the lawsuit coming too close to the event to alter the team’s course. The decision made in this lawsuit could help define the future relationship that the NHL’s newest franchise can have with its predecessor.
Other Pacific Notes:
- The Anaheim Ducks have moved Leo Carlsson to injured reserve. The prolific rookie suffered a scary knee injury last Thursday, ending up with a sprained right knee ligament that’s expected to hold him out for four to six weeks. The 19-year-old had managed eight goals and 15 points through his first 23 NHL games.
- The San Jose Sharks have announced a string of injury updates – sharing that goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood is trending in the right direction to play on Sunday, while Ty Emberson and Logan Couture are doubtful for the matchup. San Jose will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak when they face the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. The Sharks have been outscored 33-to-10 over their long-term skid.
- The flu bug is continuing to spread around the NHL, with Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson missing the team’s Friday practice with illness. The team did not share any updates about Andersson’s availability for their Sunday night matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers. Andersson has appeared in 31 games this season, leading Flames defenders in scoring with 18 points.
NHL Upholds Charlie McAvoy’s Suspension
Nov. 8: After the appeal process, Bettman has decided to uphold McAvoy’s four-game suspension, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports.
Nov. 2: Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman tweeted that Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy is planning to appeal the four-game suspension he received for his illegal check to the head of Florida Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. McAvoy had a phone hearing with the Department of Player Safety on Tuesday shortly before he received news of the suspension.
Much like the Calgary Flames’ Rasmus Andersson suspension appeal, Gary Bettman would hear a McAvoy appeal because the suspension is for less than six games. In the case of Andersson, Bettman rejected the appeal and kept the suspension at four games.
McAvoy had just scored the game-tying goal mere moments before the hit occurred in the third period of Monday night’s game against Florida. McAvoy hit Ekman-Larsson with a blindside check in which the initial impact was the head of the Panthers defenseman. McAvoy was assessed a five-minute match penalty and was kicked out of the game. Ekman-Larsson was hurt on the play and stayed on the ice but did remain in the game.
The Long Beach, New York native was suspended once before back in 2019 when he was involved in a hit to the head of then Columbus Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson during the Bruins run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
McAvoy is sitting out the first game of his suspension tonight as the Bruins battle the Toronto Maple Leafs. If McAvoy’s suspension is upheld by Bettman then the 25-year-old won’t be eligible to return to the lineup until November 11th against the Montreal Canadiens.
Snapshots: Matheson, Schneider, Andersson
Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens Martin St. Louis has announced that Mike Matheson is a game-time decision for the team’s Monday night matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. The defenseman has been battling a minor lower-body injury that drew his availability into question.
Matheson has become a top defender in Montreal, with a blue line-leading six points through eight games on the season. The tally brings him to 40 points in 56 games since joining the Habs last season, making him the second-fastest Habs defender to reach the 40-point mark. The milestone speaks to Matheson’s scoring ability – something that’s come to the surface in recent years, with Matheson setting career-highs in scoring in both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, despite being limited by injury in both years. His presence on Montreal’s back end is a necessity, given the team’s string of defenseman injuries. Matheson will look to avoid that list on Monday night.
Other notes from around the league:
- Standout New York Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider is one game removed from losing his waiver exemption status. This means that the Rangers are facing the decision of whether Schneider is a full-time NHL player or not, although he’s appeared in all eight of the Rangers’ games so far this season, netting two points. There’s no expectation that Schneider will lose his roster spot as a result of this news.
- Top Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson is returning from a four-game suspension received for a charging call against Columbus’ Patrik Laine. Andersson has three points in five games so far this season and scored 49 in 79 games last year, operating as Calgary’s top defender.
NHL Upholds Rasmus Andersson’s Four-Game Suspension
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has upheld the four-game suspension assessed to Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson last weekend, according to a league release. The NHLPA filed an appeal on behalf of Andersson, which resulted in a meeting with Bettman on Monday. As a result, Andersson will remain ineligible to play for the remainder of the month and, notably, in this weekend’s Heritage Classic.
Andersson was assessed the suspension after charging Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine with just seconds remaining in the third period of last Friday’s game. He was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for elbowing on the play, which prompted a hearing with NHL Player Safety the following day. After serving the first game of his suspension in Sunday’s blowout loss against the Red Wings, Andersson will miss Calgary’s three remaining games this month, including tonight’s tilt against the Rangers.
Laine sustained an upper-body injury on the play and is currently on IR, guaranteed to miss at least the rest of this week. In his full ruling on the appeal, Bettman said that the NHLPA only appealed to reduce the suspension to three games, which would have allowed Andersson to participate in the outdoor Heritage Classic. He also said Andersson acknowledged the hit was “not perfect” and said Andersson took responsibility for the play but found the severity of the hit and its timing late in the game warranted the full four-game length.
That means Sunday’s contest against the Oilers, the first outdoor game on the 2023-24 schedule, will take place without Calgary’s number-one defenseman and, likely, without Oilers captain and superstar center Connor McDavid. It’s a tough break for a marquee early-season rivalry game under an already increased spotlight.
West Notes: Andersson, Buchnevich, Zucker, Carcone
It seems Rasmus Andersson‘s four-game suspension could have a negative domino effect on the Flames. Aside from missing one of their top defenders (if not their top defender) for the rest of the month, a semi-long-term suspension creates some salary cap issues for a strapped Calgary squad.
Since players suspended by the league still count against the salary cap, Andersson’s $4.55MM cap hit will remain on the books until his return next month. The team has exactly $0 in space left with defenseman Oliver Kylington on LTIR, and they have just six healthy defensemen on the roster, with Jordan Oesterle now set to slide into a bottom-pairing role for the next quartet of games. If another defender is sidelined due to injury, the team may have trouble making a corresponding roster move to dress a full roster. One potential solution would be sliding forward Kevin Rooney from IR to LTIR retroactive to the beginning of the season, but that assumes he will be out for at least the next five games. That’s certainly a distinct possibility, as he carries an unknown return timeline following offseason shoulder surgery. The only other option for the Flames would be to waive forward Dryden Hunt and replace him with a defense call-up from AHL Calgary, but their options would be limited to defenders with a league-minimum cap hit of $775K, the same as Hunt’s.
Elsewhere in the Western Conference tonight:
- St. Louis Blues winger Pavel Buchnevich is missing his second straight game against the Penguins tonight with an upper-body injury sustained against the Kraken a week ago today. He did, however, rejoin the team at morning skate today, a week into his projected recovery timeframe. Head coach Craig Berube said Buchnevich is “making progress” but that he’ll want to log at least one practice taking full contact before returning to the lineup. He’s likely to travel with the team on their upcoming lengthy road swing. The 28-year-old is yet to record a point this season in two games.
- A pair of Coyotes forwards left today’s win over the Ducks with injuries, headlined by free-agent signing Jason Zucker. Per the team, a lower-body injury prevented him from finishing the contest. Zucker scored one of two Coyotes goals in the 2-1 win and was named the third star of the game. It’s unclear when exactly he sustained the injury, although he could have tweaked something while laying a hit on Ducks forward Benoit-Olivier Groulx (video link). Signed to a one-year contract with a $5MM AAV, the 31-year-old now has two goals in five games but is still looking for his first helper as a Yote.
- The other winger to exit today’s contest was Michael Carcone, who sustained an upper-body injury. He was the recipient of a heavy shoulder check from Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas late in the second period. Last season’s AHL points leader had one goal on the board this season in four contests. If both he and Zucker cannot go for Tuesday’s contest against the Kings, at least one recall will be necessary from AHL Tucson, with Travis Boyd as the only extra forward on the roster.