[Trade] Andersson (50% retained) to Vegas for 27 1st, cond 28 2nd, Whitecloud, Wiebe

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Don't confuse bad management with bad ownership. It's on the directive from Maloney and ownership who refuse to allow the team to make progressive, shrewd moves when it makes the most sense, at the expense of short term idiotic 'competitive' play. There isn't a GM out there that wouldn't have seen the value in moving Andersson at the draft last year, and Conroy certainly was rumored to be trying to do so. You can guess why it didn't happen - the suits upstairs said it would affect the drive to finish 8-10 this season too much - rebiggle.

The Flames are 100% doomed to toil in the mushy middle for eternity unless we absolutely luck out on a few guys like Gridin and late round gems like Wyttenbach repeatedly moving forward. I have no faith at all Kadri and Coleman will actually be moved when they still have term on their deals this year or in the offseason either so adding actual drafted pro ready prospects is unlikely to happen. We will ride our vets until the value is diminished either physically or contractually as we do with everyone.

The only saving grace here is that Conroy did well on the trade as a pure rental IMO. I don't see how anyone can be overly upset with the trade from this standpoint. If the goal was to maximize Andersson's value the team rightly should have moved him 1-1.5 seasons ago. At least the team will now be worse off this year and likely draft higher because of it and we may hit a home run with a top 3-4 pick that is desperately needed.

I don't think any rebuild will be successful if you don't hit on players outside of the top 5. The Flames have good goaltending, which does add some uncertainty as to where we land in the standings but on paper, next year's pick looks pretty good too.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

This is the part that people should be paying attention to. We traded Hanifin in 2023-24 for a player that will not be drafted until 2026 and most likely not see the Flames lineup full time until 2030. We just traded away Andersson for draft picks we will not see until 2027 and 2028 and those players not see the Calgary roster until probably 2032 or later, if they make it at all. Vegas is playing with and gaining benefit from our future, and we received no benefit from allowing them to do so. Trade for immediate picks. Period. Sports is a game about immediate results. This trying to play 4D chess stuff is stupid. If a team doesn't have the picks you want (next draft), move the hell on to a team that does. I mean, Conroy got played so badly on Hanifin that the pick they should have received was used in a later deal to grab Hertl, which made the pick we received less valuable. Just brutal management and vision.

And if immediate picks are not available?

[TheIronMaiden]

I can't help but think that Vegas will come crashing down in the next couple of years. They've got a Pre Salary Cap Rangers thing happening where they are loaded with star players in their 30s, but ultimately can't make anything happen.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

I honestly didn’t follow, but conceptually agree with the thought that trading him last year would have “optimized” the return. Given that seems to be one of the biggest beefs, how much better do folks feel the return would have been last year, and what’s the actual trade example(s) one can point to that re-enforces that view?

[Toast_Man]

I thought Andersson should have been traded a year ago.

That being said, this trade is a mild win. A 1st, 2nd, Legit NHL Dman, and a random prospect. Not a bad return at all!

Ideally, Whitecloud should be flipped a the deadline, but the Flames being the Flames, won't be cutthroat enough to do it.

So now the focus should be on trading Coleman. I've barely even noticed that he's injured!

[Rhett44]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I can't help but think that Vegas will come crashing down in the next couple of years. They've got a Pre Salary Cap Rangers thing happening where they are loaded with star players in their 30s, but ultimately can't make anything happen.

They will just trade for Kadri with their 2029 1st round pick next year. That's what they keep doing to stay competitive.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Fair.

If it were a true rental, I would tend to agree.
I just don't buy its that at all sadly, its meant to look like that on the surface based on both the comments from Rasmus and Craig, but I think we know for the most part he'll be extending.

Hidden agenda/borderline tampering honestly.

What else do they even get from Vegas if an extension was agreed upon? Probably not much.

[SutterBrother]

It’s going to be at least 4-5 years before we are competative. We need a franchise first line center any the only way you get that is to draft one, and they’ll need to be early 20’s at min.

So the more lottery tickets the better. To draft or trade up.

Nothing will happen on the ice till the 2030’s. Glad Conroy is approaching it that way.

[TopChed]

To me, the biggest issue is the first round pick being in 2027. A 2026 first is worth a lot more, but it sounds like there weren't very many good offers for rental Rasmus, unfortunately.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Andersson should have been able to get a better return than Carlo last year. We didn’t trade him for our playoff run last year and I was assured by a number of posters that we need to wait and see what the return is. Well it’s here and it stinks.

Well, they know who they are and I hope they can look back and realize their thought process was dumb and wrong.

Why be such an ass hat?

We have no idea what they were offered for Andersson in an off season.
Add in he would have failed the physical with a broken leg
And that there is value in respecting your room in a playoff spot

and there are easily two schools of thought.

To have the other view isn't dumb and wrong.

[WickerChicken]

I’d characterize the deal as a modest win. Given the circumstances, I think Conroy did about as well as anyone reasonably could have. Extracting value under those constraints isn’t easy, and on its own the return is defensible.

My bigger issue is that those circumstances were largely self-inflicted—and likely could have been mitigated, if not avoided entirely. In my view, if the Flames had clearer conviction and alignment on how they want to build a competitive roster, they should have identified two or more years ago that Anderson’s age and timeline didn’t fit the team’s realistic competitive window. At that point, the logical move would have been to trade him earlier—ideally last deadline—when leverage was stronger, and the trade market wasn’t constrained by whether teams could re-sign him.

That delay mattered. By waiting, the Flames allowed the situation to evolve into one where Anderson’s willingness to sign (or not sign) elsewhere became a limiting factor, which inevitably reduced both the number of bidders and the quality of offers.

The one comment from Conroy’s presser that really bothered me was:
“I think at the beginning, at times, they were open to the idea of signing (an extension) with teams, but then I was informed this morning they weren’t open to signing with other teams,”.

So what exactly happened here? Was Anderson unclear or dishonest about his intentions with Craig? Did he change his mind late in the process? We may never know. But regardless of the answer, it underscores the broader point: this is a situation the Flames could have avoided by acting sooner. Better asset management earlier would have prevented the organization from being boxed in at the most critical moment.

In short, I don’t hate the trade—but I don’t love how we got there.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Break Even / Expected doesn’t mean someone is happy with the return

I didn’t expect a lot because I thought we handcuffed ourselves and the return matched by expectation .

I am not happy with the process and the return however .

75% thought the trade was break even or worse . Anyone can “play” with stats and make it look better for their opinion

Is the most relevant stat that 90% see it as being a modest loss to modest win. Meaning 90% see it as a somewhat reasonable return?

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by TopChed

To me, the biggest issue is the first round pick being in 2027. A 2026 first is worth a lot more, but it sounds like there weren't very many good offers for rental Rasmus, unfortunately.

I don't mind pushing the pick out to 2027 which seems like it is just as good a draft, maybe even better.
I understand that means the player isn't contributing until 2030 and beyond, but I still am OK with the picks being spread over a few years. I don't think there's much to support stating that a 2026 first is worth a LOT more.

[traptor]

a late 2027 1st won't be in the NHL until 2030 and that's if they hit.

It's not a realistic expection for our savior future supertstars to be acquired via trades.

I think this just highlights further why we need to bottom out so badly.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

This is the sort of thing that gets you called out.

You would rather the Flames receive the 1st, conditional 2nd, and Wiebe, as opposed to the 1st, conditional 2nd, Wiebe, and Whitecloud?

With all due respect, that is nonsense.

and he has defenders in here! hahahahaha

he had toned down his whiny bitchy posts before the trade happened though so I gave him credit for that.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

And if immediate picks are not available?

True. A lot of contenders had already traded their '26 pick.

There is also the future RFA negotiation to keep in mind. presumable you want to spread out the end of players' ELCs so you don't have to negotiate RFA contracts all at once.

[Psytic]

He was playing awful last year. I doubt they even get this deal last year. Reason I put slight loss is we need to see if they move Whitecloud or Pahal, etc. for a pick then I think it would end up being fully even or even pull ahead if they can pull off a 3rd - late 1st.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by TopChed

To me, the biggest issue is the first round pick being in 2027. A 2026 first is worth a lot more, but it sounds like there weren't very many good offers for rental Rasmus, unfortunately.

I think with it being Vegas (like the Leafs pick last year) - going a year out is better. You know this year's pick will likely be late at this point, but you never know what happens next year.

They are already one of the oldest teams in the league and won't be getting younger any time soon given they haven't drafted a single NHL regular since the 2020 draft and don't have any 1st round picks for the next two years.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by Bonded

What else do they even get from Vegas if an extension was agreed upon? Probably not much.

Not much from Vegas nope.
Much more from other teams, but he refused to sign anything after saying he'd be open to it so long as Craig let his agent talk to them.

Vegas was the least exciting trade partner, for all the reasons people have outlined. When he changed his tune and refused to talk extensions with "anyone" then things had to pivot and Craig had to go with the team who would give up the most for a "rental" if you want to call it that.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Bonded

Hope Coleman is open to moving this year so we don’t have to have the same argument next year. Seems like 24 offseason was the better time to trade Andersson but oh well. Conroy ended up getting what was expected.

Just FYI Bonded, this has basically always been my position, and I also agree that Conroy ended up getting what was expected (more than I expected, though not by much.)

I think we would have gotten more if we had traded him earlier. I think the news that they were still trying to sign him deep into summer 2025 means that many of us were right when we were saying they weren't actually trying to rebuild then. Maybe they have finally changed their minds. This trade is alright. Remains to be seen what continues to happen. I think acquiring Whitecloud is a bit of a red flag against truly rebuilding, but if we move on from him or if we use his presence to jettison Weegar then my anxieties will be sated.

It really sucks to trade with Vegas, because we potentially weakened the pick we are getting this year already by making them stronger. However, I do think that this weakens us enough to guarantee that top 4 pick, hopefully more, and I think that supersedes any additional value we could hope to extract from a trade. Trading up from 6th to 1st costs more than another 1st round pick.