Rangers Daily: How Rasmus Andersson trade affects Blueshirts
Though the New York Rangers clearly had no interest in acquiring Rasmus Andersson, his trade from the Calgary Flames to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday does affect the Blueshirts in a couple of ways.
First off, it might remove the Golden Knights from being a potential trade partner for the Rangers, who are looking to move their leading scorer Artemi Panarin ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline on March 6. Vegas is historically in on the top names available in both free agency and the trade market — as evidenced with Andersson, the coveted veteran right-shot defenseman.
But the Golden Knights now are projected by PuckPedia to have a bit more than $3 million in available salary cap space ahead of the deadline. They’d need to create more space to fit Panarin, even if the Rangers — as expected — retained half of his whopping $11.64 million annual salary.
That doesn’t even factor in three important things. First, as it pertains to the cap, if Vegas center William Karlsson and his $5.9 million salary come off LTIR during the regular season or even during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, when there are new, stricter salary cap rules in place, how do the Golden Knights remain compliant and under the cap?
Second, would Panarin waive his no-move clause and accept a trade to Vegas in the first place? And finally, if he did, Vegas has a limited prospects pool, few young NHL players of interest (Alexander Holtz perhaps?), and no first-round draft picks in 2026 and 2027.
Their 2027 first-rounder was sent to the Flames, along with a conditional second-round pick in 2027, top-six defenseman Zach Whitecloud, and marginal defenseman prospect Abram Wiebe. The Flames also retained half of Andersson’s $4.55 million cap hit.
This package for Andersson doesn’t affect the Rangers, per se, but it does give them an idea of what a sought-after talent fetches these days ahead of the trade deadline. Comparing Panarin and Andersson is not exactly apples to apples, though each can become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. Panarin is a 34-year-old superstar, high-scoring wing, who holds all the cards with his complete no-move clause. Andersson is a 29-year-old, solid, minutes-munching, two-way defenseman, who had a modified six-team no-trade clause.
The trade market was more wide open for the Flames, than it is for the Rangers. But the general framework of an NHL regular, first-round pick, another high selection, and a prospect as a return package for Panarin is not out of the question for the Rangers.
Let’s see how it all breaks out, considering the many variables at play with the Breadman.
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NHL news and rumors
Forever Blueshirts: After pivoting from a Rangers trade offer, the Vancouver Canucks dealt forward Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
Florida Hockey Now: George Richards goes into the hows and whys of an epic goalie fight between Sergei Bobrovsky of the Panthers and Alex Nedeljkovic of the Sharks, including some pretty funny postgame quotes.
NHL.com: More importantly, Matthew Tkachuk made his season debut for the Panthers, after off-season adductor and sports hernia surgeries. The Panthers lost to the Sharks 4-1.
TSN: After two months sidelined by a lower-body injury, Anthony Stolarz was assigned to Toronto of the American Hockey League on a conditioning stint and should be back between the pipes for the Maple Leafs soon.
Philly Hockey Now: William James explains why Robert Thomas should be the apple of the Flyers eye if he’s available ahead of the March 6 NHL Trade Deadline.
Sportsnet: After missing 31 games with a fractured foot, Kirby Dach returns to the top line for the Montreal Canadiens when they face off against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils edged the Flames 2-1 in overtime on Monday, but James Nichols reports they lost defenseman Luke Hughes to an expected separated shoulder injury.
