Red Wings miss out as Flames officially trade Rasmus Andersson to cup contender
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
The Detroit Red Wings have lost out on the top-four defenseman of the Calgary Flames, Rasmus Andersson, who has just been traded.
On Sunday, it was announced by NHL Insider Darren Dreger that defenseman Rasmus Andersson has been traded.
His destination out of the Calgary Flames organization will sound familiar to you.
Instead of heading to the Detroit Red Wings who were reported to be in the sweepstakes, Andersson has chosen to stay in the Western Conference.
As a Vegas Golden Knight.
The 584-game defenseman's destination of choice is with a contender, which makes sense.
The Golden Knights are perennial contenders in the NHL, and with Alex Pietrangelo out long-term due to injury, they need some help on the blue line.
The return for the defenseman is Zach Whitecloud, 2027 1st, 2027 2nd (becomes 1st if Vegas wins a cup this year), and prospect Adam Weibe. Calgary retains 50% of his salary.
Detroit Red Wings trade target Rasmus Andersson is a Vegas Golden Knight
Andersson, who was a Red Wings trade target, played on the top pairing in Calgary with Kevin Bahl and was on a team that is just about to begin trading off veteran pieces for assets.
Nazem Kadri may be next, but Andersson is the first to go in what could be multiple moves made after the Olympic break.
The Swedish-born defenseman has played a total of 584 games in the NHL and scored 261 points (57-204), all with the team that drafted him 53rd overall in the 2nd round of the 2015 NHL Draft.
This ends another chapter of the Red Wings' attempts to improve the lineup, without any substantial gains or results.
Considering how the Quinn Hughes trade failed, maybe Andersson wasn't ready to commit to an extension with the Red Wings.
Last we knew there were four teams left when a trade appeared imminent for the blueliner, and now it's come to fruition.
If it turns out to be true, it was another error that was addressed ahead of time by Steve Yzerman.
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