No Calgary Flames player came into the season with more noise than Rasmus Andersson. The 28-year-old pending unrestricted free agent was the centre of numerous trade rumours over the summer, seemingly coming a signature away from being shipped out of town.
As we enter December, Andersson is still in Calgary and putting up the best season of his career to date. For the Flames, his strong play couldn’t have come at a better time. Here’s more on Andersson’s strong numbers that should only continue to increase his value on the market.
Pacing the Flames’ blue line
Andersson is a man on an island right now. In the midst of a truly terrible year offensively for the Flames, Andersson is the team’s lone blueliner chipping in offensively. It’s not even close, either. The veteran is simply blowing every other Flames blueliner out of the water right now in every major offensive category. Below are the Flames’ top-six scorers on defence so far this season.
| Player | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rasmus Andersson | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| Kevin Bahl | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| MacKenzie Weegar | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Yan Kuznetsov | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Joel Hanley | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Brayden Pachal | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Yikes. Andersson is carrying the offence from the blue line right now in a gigantic way. The above numbers are simply shocking. Andersson’s 21 points are just 3 points below the next five defenders’ combined total of 24. In 127 combined games, the Flames’ other five primary blueliners have just 24 points. A point per game rate of just 0.19.
Andersson, meanwhile, has nearly matched that combined total himself in just 31 games, sitting with 21 points thus far. His seven goals are also more than every other regular defender on the team combined.
Playing on one of the worst bluelines in the NHL, Andersson has managed to put up some truly terrific numbers offensively. In fact, he’s currently on pace for the best season of his eight-year career.
The best season of his career
With 21 points in 31 games thus far, Andersson is currently on pace for the following totals.
| Stat | Andersson 82-Game Pace | Career Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 19 | 1st |
| Assists | 37 | 3rd |
| Points | 56 | 1st |
With 56 points, Andersson would top his previous career best of 50 that he set during the Flames’ historic 2021–22 season. The fact that he’s managing better numbers on a much worse team is pretty impressive. At his current pace, he’d finish as the 25th-highest-scoring defender in the entire NHL this season.
His current pace of 19 goals would also be a career best by a wide margin, topping the 11 goals he scored in the aforementioned 2021–22 season, as well as the 2024–25 season. His 37 assists would be the third-best total of his career, trailing his 46 assists during the 2021–22 season and 38 assists in 2022-23.
Andersson’s market value is skyrocketing
Long story short, what Andersson is doing right now is nothing short of remarkable. Playing for a historically terrible Flames offence, Andersson is managing the best totals of his career. It couldn’t have come at a better time, either, as his trade value on the market is likely skyrocketing, which presents a perfect opportunity for the Flames to sell high while they can.
