Calgary’s favourite broadcaster was at it again with some spicy comments about Calgary Flames veteran and fan favourite: Rasmus Andersson.
On an episode of Flames Talk last week, Francis was on with Pat Steinberg and the topic of discussion was Andersson’s future in Calgary. As one of the last remaining players from the Johnny Gaudreau era of Flames hockey, and with Andersson being a younger veteran with just two years left on his contract, his future has been at the forefront of offseason conversations this year.
Francis is confident about what will happen
While several angles to Andersson’s situation were explored, Francis firmly believes that Andersson will be traded by the Flames, whether it’s this trade deadline or next. Here’s what he had to say:
So again, Andersson will be traded. The only question is, is it this trade deadline? I think it will be, because I think that the team will be clearly out of a playoff race at that point in time, and it will be time to cash in big time.
I’m not at all convinced that Rasmus Andersson would want to stay in Calgary long-term.
Fans will remember how passionate Francis was about Gaudreau’s future in Calgary and how he would never sign long-term with the Flames. That take was heavily criticized for years, but in the end, Francis ended up being right. Lately, he’s been right about a lot of things and has really cemented himself as one of the premier Calgary Flames insiders out there.
Francis’ explanation on Andersson
He explained why he feels the way he feels about Andersson in the radio hit as well:
So many other veterans last year, many of them fellow Swedes, decided they didn’t want to be part of this rebuild. If things go sideways, the first couple months… that frustration might get pretty old pretty quick. And it’s easy to look at your buddies in all these other cities: Lindholm’s in Boston, I’m pretty sure they’re going to have a pretty good year. His buddy Hanifin is in Vegas. Pretty sure they’re gonna have a good year.
Start to look around at where all these guys are. They were seeking greener pastures and for the most part they got it. They’ve all kind of landed in spots where the team has got a better short-term future ahead of them including this year.
So after a couple of months, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rasmus went to management and said, you know, I’m not sure that I can do this any longer. I know you’re going to trade me next year, why don’t you trade me this year.
That’s the way I kind of see it happening.
Francis has been right, lately
Take Francis’ comments as you will, but at the end of the day, there is a lot of sense to what he’s saying.
Andersson is 27 years old with two years left on a very good contract with a $4.75M AAV. It’s super easy for teams to absorb that full hit, and 31 other teams in the NHL would jump at the chance to add him. He’s a heart and soul player, played almost 24 minutes a night last season, easily slots in on the first pair and potentially even the first power play, and is extremely reliable at both ends of the ice, usually.
There’s a reason why there are rumours about the Oilers inquiring about Andersson, though the Flames are almost surely not entertaining that option.
Like with their other former core players on expiring or soon-to-be expiring contracts, the Flames will have to figure out exactly what Andersson is thinking about his future. If he’s not willing to stick it out during the rebuild, then perhaps the trigger needs to be pulled on a trade sooner rather than later.
