The Calgary Flames have traded defenseman Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights for defenseman Zach Whitecloud, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2027 conditional second-round pick, and prospect defenseman Abram Wiebe. The Flames will also retain 50 percent of Andersson's salary for the rest of the season.

The Golden Knights receive: Andersson, a top-4 defenseman who has seen a resurgence in points this season. Andersson is capable of handling big minutes, breaking the puck out of his own zone, and contributing to a team's power play. He has spent his entire 10-year career with the Flames.

The Flames receive: Whitecloud, a defensive defenseman who has spent his entire eight-year career with the Golden Knights; and Wiebe, who is on his third season at the University of North Dakota.

Players impacted: Andersson has been linked to Vegas dating back to the offseason, when reports surfaced that he would only extend with the Golden Knights. That extension may follow, although one hasn’t been announced yet. The two teams followed a similar pattern when the Knights acquired Noah Hanifin from the Flames.

Even with what seems like a complete roster, the Golden Knights had a hole in their lineup with Alex Pietrangelo sidelined for the season. Andersson and Hanifin were paired together for a time in Calgary, where they were particularly effective in 2021-22 (1298 minutes, plus-22, 56.0 SF%, 55.1 CF%). Andersson's underlying numbers this season (eg. 47.77 CF%) haven't been great, but that may also be a product of the team he was playing for. That could improve by reuniting with his old defensive partner and by playing for a stronger team. However, playing for a superior squad could also mean less icetime, which leads to lower counting stats.

The Golden Knights have been using a five-forward power play for much of the season, with no defenseman playing at least 40% of the team's available power-play minutes. Although Andersson has had success on the power play in the past, he doesn't seem to be a drastic upgrade on either Hanifin or Shea Theodore, if at all. The Golden Knights already have a top-5 power play (27.3 PP%), so expect the top unit of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Mitch Marner, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Tomas Hertl to stand pat. If a forward were to get bumped out for a defenseman, it would probably be either Hertl or Dorofeyev. In fact, don’t rule out the Golden Knights giving their latest shiny new toy a test run on the top power play.

A five-forward PP1 could mean that one of Andersson, Hanifin, or Theodore could be on the outside looking in for any power-play time – even PP2. Theodore has historically been the better power-play producer, while Andersson provides a right shot while the other two shoot left. Hanifin might be the player that loses out here. But this is probably a fluid situation, meaning that the next power-play deployment you see from Vegas probably won't be the last.

As for the Flames, Mackenzie Weegar probably takes over the top power play in the short term. Weegar is probably keeping the seat warm for Zayne Parekh, though. Whether Parekh takes over sooner or later remains to be seen, as he is currently on an AHL conditioning loan. Coach Ryan Huska may sleep better at night knowing that the more defensively responsible Weegar is there, but the Flames can experiment with this more if they are out of the playoff race.

With Andersson gone, Hunter Brzustewicz could also receive a look on the power play. Although Brzustewicz has just one assist in 14 games this season, he has high offensive upside as evidenced by his scoring totals (149 PTS in 135 GP) during two OHL seasons.

Players this helps, in order:

Parekh (long-term)

Weegar (short-term)

Brzustewicz

Players this hurts, in order:

Hanifin

Theodore

Hertl / Dorofeyev

Andersson

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