Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Rasmus Andersson watch

Calgary4LIfe · 04-23-2025, 01:00 PM

I think +/- is still a useful stat. Being -38 on a team is bad, and it being much worse than anyone else tells you... what exactly?

It should tell you that you need to look and dig deeper as there is something happening here. That's it. Maybe the story is that Rasmus is terrible defensively? Or that he was put into a difficult role? Or that his playing through injuries dramatically added to the totals. Whatever the real story is, the +/- just alerts you that there is probably a big story here. It definitely tells you that Andersson had a poor season, but it doesn't say WHY.

I doubt very much anyone on here is going to say that Andersson had a great year. You would be in the minority. However, equally true is anyone saying that Andersson is a bad defencemen.

For me, these were growing pains. This is probably the first time that he had to be 'the guy' on his pairing, plus he had to take on the role that opened up after the team traded Hanifin and Tanev away. Those were two very good defencemen at being high minute munchers against top opposition. That's a new role for Andersson - two new roles, actually. Being the leader on his pairing, as well as becoming a shutdown guy.

I would say that he started this season off really well, but then mostly treaded water interspersed with some games in which he was underwater. Definitely drowned a lot near the end of the season with his broken bone.

I think this sets him up nicely for next season. This is experienced gained in my mind. Maybe he will never be the shutdown guy like Tanev, but I bet he has grown that aspect of his game. You can see this from two angles - one is that the Flames needed to lean on Andersson a lot, and it broke him sometimes (figuratively and literally!). You can also look at it as investing in Andersson as well - Andersson learned through trial by fire in some respects.

I still, however, think that he gets traded, and it probably happens this off-season. In my mind, the odds are 25% he re-signs, and 75% he doesn't. What I think won't happen is Conroy walking him to free agency. He had a front-row seat to Treliving doing that with Gaudreau, and Conroy spoke at length about how he felt that was a mistake. I don't think he takes him to the deadline, because he knows all too well that it makes it tough to trade a player out when your team is hanging around the playoffs.

I anticipate Andersson gets traded before the season starts. Conroy didn't sound like a GM that was about to spend to the cap this off-season either in his season-ending interviews. That alone may get Andersson to simply not want to sign an extension yet, nevermind the relatively difficult season he just had.

04-23-2025, 01:00 PM	#288
Calgary4LIfe Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Exp:	I think +/- is still a useful stat. Being -38 on a team is bad, and it being much worse than anyone else tells you... what exactly? It should tell you that you need to look and dig deeper as there is something happening here. That's it. Maybe the story is that Rasmus is terrible defensively? Or that he was put into a difficult role? Or that his playing through injuries dramatically added to the totals. Whatever the real story is, the +/- just alerts you that there is probably a big story here. It definitely tells you that Andersson had a poor season, but it doesn't say WHY. I doubt very much anyone on here is going to say that Andersson had a great year. You would be in the minority. However, equally true is anyone saying that Andersson is a bad defencemen. For me, these were growing pains. This is probably the first time that he had to be 'the guy' on his pairing, plus he had to take on the role that opened up after the team traded Hanifin and Tanev away. Those were two very good defencemen at being high minute munchers against top opposition. That's a new role for Andersson - two new roles, actually. Being the leader on his pairing, as well as becoming a shutdown guy. I would say that he started this season off really well, but then mostly treaded water interspersed with some games in which he was underwater. Definitely drowned a lot near the end of the season with his broken bone. I think this sets him up nicely for next season. This is experienced gained in my mind. Maybe he will never be the shutdown guy like Tanev, but I bet he has grown that aspect of his game. You can see this from two angles - one is that the Flames needed to lean on Andersson a lot, and it broke him sometimes (figuratively and literally!). You can also look at it as investing in Andersson as well - Andersson learned through trial by fire in some respects. I still, however, think that he gets traded, and it probably happens this off-season. In my mind, the odds are 25% he re-signs, and 75% he doesn't. What I think won't happen is Conroy walking him to free agency. He had a front-row seat to Treliving doing that with Gaudreau, and Conroy spoke at length about how he felt that was a mistake. I don't think he takes him to the deadline, because he knows all too well that it makes it tough to trade a player out when your team is hanging around the playoffs. I anticipate Andersson gets traded before the season starts. Conroy didn't sound like a GM that was about to spend to the cap this off-season either in his season-ending interviews. That alone may get Andersson to simply not want to sign an extension yet, nevermind the relatively difficult season he just had.