The Calgary Flames appear set to trade veteran defenseman Rasmus Andersson. A new report pegs the Boston Bruins as the team prepared to step up and make a blockbuster trade for Andersson that would solidify Boston's defense corps for years to come.
The Boston Bruins are having a bounce-back season, and GM Don Sweeney has managed to retool the team in an impressive way.
With the latest reports from Elliotte Friedman on 'Saturday Headlines,' it seems that the Bruins are taking a stance to be competitive this season. This is the opposite of what transpired with Boston at last year's trade deadline.
Friedman reported that Boston is the leading candidate to acquire Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson.
While Sportsnet reported that many teams are interested in Andersson – including the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs – only the Bruins have received permission to talk with Andersson regarding a contract extension.
If that doesn’t happen, Andersson would be one of the most sought-after UFAs this summer, but for now, the Bruins look aggressive in adding Andersson and could wind up significantly bolstering their defense corps.
Indeed, with Andersson as part of their team, Boston would have a ‘D’ corps that includes Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. That would be one of the stronger top-four defense groups in the league.
Boston holds the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. With 58 points in 49 games, they are in a better position than at this time one year ago.
Sweeney and the Bruins eventually became sellers, moving off of left winger Brad Marchand, center Charlie Coyle, and defenseman Brandon Carlo, among others.
Now, with the reports that they seem to be front-runners for Andersson, are taking a different stance and are ready to contend in the playoffs again.
Rasmus Andersson (Sergei Belski-Imagn Images)Given that the Bruins are projected to have $19 million in salary cap space next year, they could easily fit in Andersson at a much higher rate than his current $4.5-million cap hit.
Now, Boston only has $1.76-million in cap space at the moment, so any Andersson trade would have to send a significant salary Calgary’s way. But if, say, Sweeney dealt 25-year-old D-man Mason Lohrei to the Flames, his $3.2-million cap hit, along with the Bruins’ cap space, would make the trade work.
But make no mistake – any Andersson trade with Boston would need many more assets than that to make it palatable for the Flames.
That almost certainly means the Bruins would need to include a first-round draft pick, but Sweeney currently has five first-rounders in the next three drafts, and Boston could easily send one of those to Calgary.
That would make for a solid package in return for Andersson, and the Bruins would have a massive upgrade on the back end.
Boston is going to be in for a battle to lock up a Stanley Cup playoff berth in the highly-competitive Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.
But by trading for Andersson, the Bruins would drastically improve their back end, and prevent Andersson from being traded to an Atlantic rival like the Maple Leafs.
Andersson is going to be in the spotlight next month as a member of Team Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, but you’d have to figure he’d prefer to know the team he’ll be playing for well in advance of that best-on-best tournament. That could be one of the reasons why it feels like his time in Calgary is coming to an imminent end.
Andersson is one of the hottest-pursued candidates on the trade block this season. And the way things are shaking out, the Bruins are ready, willing and able to step up and bring him into the fold.
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