From Vegas's point of view, this actually is a rental trade – because they knew Andersson wanted to go to free agency anyway and they could have signed him then for nothing.
They're giving up a 1st, a 2nd, and a spare part to upgrade Whitecloud for the rest of this year only. If they hadn't made the trade, they could have signed Andersson in the summer, kept the picks, and still had Whitecloud.
There's no point comparing the deal to the offer Boston had on the table for Andersson with an extension, because the man has every right NOT to sign a contract if he doesn't want to. He talked a lot about ‘what's best for my family’, and some people seem to have thought he meant finding a nice city to live in with good amenities and schools and such. I think he meant just one thing by that: MONEY. I suspect the man would play in Timbuktu and have guerrillas camped in his yard if the money was there. Well, he earned that right.
In the end, the Flames got 584 NHL games and 261 points from the blue line out of a second-round pick, and then got the pick back, plus Whitecloud, a 1st, and a bit piece. I can't manufacture outrage over that. I wish I got that kind of return on all my assets.
By the way, my wife likes the deal because the Flames are adding Whitecloud and she is Cree. It might even be enough to get her to watch games with me now and again. Nothing of value to the rest of you, but there is a segment of the fan base that it makes a difference to.
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‘You see in Calgary, [Ryan] Huska is no joke. It’s good. He’s really set on a specific model defensively. If you can be reliable, you have the freedom to play offence.’
—Ethan Wyttenbach
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