4 Teams Who Appear To Be At The Forefront Of Andersson Trade With Flames

Rasmus Andersson is one of the top trade targets this offseason and the Calgary Flames seem to be talking to a number of teams and getting different offers for their d-man. Andersson has one year left on his deal at $4.55 million AAV and has a six-team no-trade clause. What might be holding up a deal is his willingness to sign an extension with the team he might be traded to in order to increase the package coming back to the Flames.

According to Darren Dreger, "I think Ottawa had a package ready. Columbus, LA, Vegas made an offer the Flames didn't think was fair. This is a spicy one, and it's not going to get any less spicy unless Andersson relents and says 'okay, I'll go.'"

Looking deeper at the teams who are in talks to acquire Andersson, the Ottawa Senators appear to be gearing up for a Nick Jensen replacement as soon as this season. Jordan Spence was already acquired, but he will likely stick to the third pairing most of the season. Andersson is already a proven top-4 d-man and would complement Artem Zub on that side as well who only has two years left on his deal. I would envision for money sake, Jensen may be a part of the offer Ottawa sent over to Calgary.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have a strong top-6, so once again, I see a package involving a defenseman coming back. In this case, it would likely be Erik Gudbranson, but maybe Damon Severson. Gudbranson has one year left on his deal and Andersson is a big upgrade, but Severson is someone the Blue Jackets appear to be looking to move. His contract doesn't look the best.

LA handled free agency very poorly, handing out $8.5 million AAV to Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin combined to "strengthen" their defense. That back-end got a whole lot worse from last season and now there isn't room for Andersson. I can't see Ceci or Dumoulin going anywhere after just signing or Calgary being willing to take on either contract. I think LA is done defensively this offseason.

The Vegas Golden Knights will be without Alex Pietrangelo next season and potentially forever if he has to retire. That opened up a big hole that they may or may not be comfortable moving Zach Whitecould into. My best guess would be no. Andersson is an upgrade that I can see Vegas being the team to pull off and being able to re-sign him at a later time. They are cut throat and may be willing to move quickly off one of their top-6 to make it work. Andersson would be the exact type of second pairing d-man the team is looking for.