The NHL free agency period had not yet even begun when the Vegas Golden Knights landed the biggest prize on the market, pulling off a stunning sign-and-trade deal for now-former Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner. But Vegas has not been to two Stanley Cup Finals, winning one, in just eight years of existence for no reason.
On Tuesday it became clear that VGK general manager Kelly McCrimmon was far from finished when it came to improving the team that won the Pacific Division with the league’s third-highest point total, only to be eliminated by the third-place Edmonton Oilers in the conference semifinals.
In what the Flamesnation podcast termed a bombshell revelation, a top NHL insider reported on Monday that the Golden Knights are targeting Calgary Flames top four, right shot defenseman Rasmus Andersson â and according to insider Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Vegas is the only place the 28-year-old native of Malmo, Sweden, is willing to go.
Andersson Has Limited No-Trade Clause
Andersson will be playing the final season of his six-year, $27.3 million contract with the Flames, the team that drafted him in second round, 53rd overall, in 2015. His contract includes a partial no-trade clause, allowing him to veto moves to six teams.
But for the Flames to make trading him now worthwhile, they need to maximize his value on the market â and that means a sign-and-trade deal in which Andersson agrees to sign a contract extension with his new team. According to LeBrun’s reporting, Vegas is so far the only team with whom the nine-year veteran is willing to commit to an extension.
“This explains why Vegas and Calgary have had numerous discussions over the past week, but still no trade has been made, as the Flames havenât yet been excited about what the Golden Knights have put on the table,” LeBrun wrote. “Andersson appears to be a little picky about where he would sign, which is his right, as he would be forgoing a chance at unrestricted free agency 12 months from now.”
As a result, according to LeBrun, “it sounds like itâs Vegas for him.”
Flames Veteran Already Snubbed Los Angeles
Another top NHL insider, Darren Dreger of the Canadian sports media outlet TSN, dropped a bombshell of his own on Sunday, that sheds even more light on Andersson’s approach to moving on from Calgary, where he has spent his entire career so far.
Speaking in an Edmonton Sports Talk interview, Dreger revealed that the Los Angeles Kings had already made an attempt to trade for Andersson during last weekend’s NHL draft, offering a substantial trade deal, only to be rebuffed.
âI heard a whopper of the L.A. Kings going after Rasmus Andersson at the draft. And I canât share exactly what the details were. It was a deal,” Dreger said on the broadcast. “And I donât think Andersson wanted to play in L.A. Heâs got trade protection. I get a strong sense that the L.A. Kings are swinging for the fence here.â
The Golden Knights will have a hole to fill at the right shot blueliner spot after 17-year veteran Alex Pietrangelo, the incumbent at the position, announced Monday that he would be stepping away from hockey due to health reasons.
“After exploring options with doctors as well as my family, it’s been advised to remove the intensity of hockey to see if my body can improve so that I can return to a normal quality of life,” the 35-year-old 2008 St. Louis Blues first-round pick said in a statement, though he stopped short of saying that he would definitively retire.
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