NHL Trade Rumors: Rasmus Andersson Turned Down Phenomenal Offer From LA Kings

Rasmus Andersson is one of the most talked-about trade candidates around the NHL these days. With one year remaining on his six-year deal carrying a $4.55 million cap hit, his days are numbered in Calgary. And the Flames are indeed listening on trade offers. But it sounds like Andersson isn't making it easy on them.

According to TSN's Darren Dreger, speaking on the Flamesnation podcast, Calgary has been ready to pounce on some of the trade packages coming their way for Andersson, but the nine-year veteran Flames defender has a six-team no-trade list, and a desire, really, to go to one place, and he's apparently making that known.

They had phenomenal offers. Phenomenal! One from LA that'd blow your socks off! It was a hell of an offer. And he wouldn't go! He wouldn't go!

Any team trading for the top-four D-man would preferably want to know that he'd be willing to sign an extension. Andersson is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 29 next summer.

For the Flames part, they would obviously like to get some assets back for him. It sounds like it might have to wait until the trade deadline, however, when he would be only a short-term rental for any team that isn't sure he'd re-sign.

"He negotiated and earned his contract. And with that contract comes the right of saying, 'No'," said Dreger.

Andersson, like so many others around the league these days, seems to like the Vegas Golden Knights as a destination, and Dreger says they did make an offer as well, but Calgary obviously didn't think it was good enough, or "he'd be there."

Fellow insider Pierre LeBrun, writing in The Athletic, agrees:

"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.

“Right now, it sounds like it’s Vegas for him.”

It's tough to expect the Golden Knights to offer a King's ransom (so to speak) if they know that they're the only place Andersson wants to go to.

Dreger added that he believes that the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets also had packages offered to Calgary for Andersson, but he just wasn't interested in signing an extension in those places.

Andersson had an off year, as his offense fell to just 31 points, its lowest in four years, and he posted a dreadful minus-38, by far his worst plus/minus rating in nine NHL seasons.