Many people thought the Flames were trending towards a complete rebuild this offseason. Yet to their surprise, the Flames almost made the playoffs. The Flames will have $27.8 million in cap space this offseason and major free agents in need of extension...except for one.
Rasmus Andersson
The biggest question surrounding the Flames organization is what they are going to do with Rasmus Andersson. He is due an extension in 2026 and has been a defensive stalwart for the Flames and will likely fetch a huge deal. He will make $4.5 million next year and will likely want an 8-year extension in the 8-9 million a year range. Should the Flames pay that?
How the Penguins can capitalize on this situation
Whether the Flames sign Andersson to an extension or not depends on how they view their roster in the long term. While the Flames definitely overachieved this year, is it because their roster is better than people think it is or because they played beyond their capability and will regress to the mean next year?
The caveat to this is that the Penguins would then sign Andersson to an 8-year extension
Why do this
The Penguins have nothing on defense either now or in the next 2 or 3 years, Kyle Dubas said as much in his end-of-year press conference. Acquiring a guy like Andersson to a long-term deal while the Penguins continue to develop young defenders such as Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke. It is not the worst thing to have a veteran on the roster to keep the ship steady instead of throwing the young guys to the wolves immediately.