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Wednesday afternoon the Calgary Flames made a surprising bit of noise, announcing they’ve signed defenseman Rasmus Andersson to a long-term contract extension.
The 23-year-old Swede put pen to paper on a six-year deal worth $27.3 million, which equates to $4.55M per season and a 5.58% share of the salary cap.
There are a lot of layers to this deal so let’s dive right in.
Initial thoughts
I am on board with the deal. It may seem like a lot of juice for somebody who, at times, still plays on the 3rd pairing but there’s a lot to like with Rasmus Andersson. He is an effective puck mover, he plays with bite, and he’s very stable in his own zone.
Since the beginning of 2018-19, Andersson ranks 1st among Flames blue liners in chances against and expected goals against while slotting 2nd in actual goals against per 60. His defensive impact is already very strong.
While he hasn’t produced a ton offensively to date, a lot of that could trace back to opportunity. As mentioned prior, he’s an adept passer and he possesses a heavy shot. The tools are there to produce more.
But $4.55 million is full-time top-4 money...
That’s right, it is. When will Andersson be making that much money? 2020-21. You know, the year the Flames will be without one or both of T.J. Brodie and Travis Hamonic. Andersson will be used as an every-night top-4 guy as a result and there's plenty of reason to believe he can handle it.
Andersson has experience playing with Noah Hanifin and the defensive ability to help prop him up.
He’s also been lights out whenever given the opportunity to play on the top pairing, posting numbers comparably strong to a fully developed T.J. Brodie.
Over the last 1.5 years the Flames' shot share and goal share is a little higher with Brodie. The Flames have gotten more of the chances when Andersson’s with Giordano, though, and you could argue that’s a better indicator of performance.
Either way, Giordano and Andersson have put up elite numbers. If Andersson steps into that role full-time, and they continue to do so, it’s hard to complain about his salary. $4.5 for half of a top-tier top pairing is not a lot.
Comparables
I took to CapFriendly.com to see the list of defenders making the same kind of dough as Andersson. Here’s the current list of the guys set to take up between $4.25 million and $4.75 million of the cap in 2020-21:
Karl Alzner - $4.625M –– full-time AHLer
Jakob Chychrun - $4.6M
Ryan Murray - $4.6M
ANDERSSON - $4.55M
Calvin De Haan - $4.55M
Shayne Gostisbehere - $4.5M
Jason Demers - $4.5M
Nikita Zaitsev - $4.5M ––– shockingly poor 5v5 impact
Brendan Smith - $4.35M ––– plays forward most of the time
Ian Cole - $4.25M
David Savard - $4.25M
John Klingberg - $4.25M (he’ll be making $5.75M, though, and signed for 6.16% of the cap at the time)
I think Andersson is noticeably better than a good portion of that list and I’m sure most of you would agree. His contract doesn’t seem all that rich now, does it?
Parting thoughts
I think Andersson is already a solid, top-4 caliber defenseman. If for some reason he stagnates and plays at this level every season moving forward, I still don’t think many people will look at his contract and be like ‘wow, he’s killing the Flames.’
If he gets better and/or the salary cap continues to go up, both of which are likely to happen, his deal is only going to look more appealing in time.
I think GM Brad Treliving did well here. This seems like a reasonable price to pay in order to lock up a top-4 piece for the entirety of his prime.
numbers via naturalstattrick.com
cap info via capfriendly.com
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